Winter Troubles
by mizutanitony
Summary: Winter has come to Tokyo leading to Akira and Sadayo not having so much time together. Thanks to his new business, Akira hasn't been sleeping much nor has he been home and it's begun to take a toll. Sequel to my stories "Reunions, Rewards, and Roads" and "November Rain"
1. Chapter 1

Winter Troubles a Persona 5 fanfiction  
Rating: M  
Pairing: Sadayo Kawakami/Protagonist

Summary:  
Winter has come to Tokyo leading to Akira and Sadayo not having so much time together. Thanks to his new business, Akira hasn't been sleeping much nor has he been home and it's begun to take a toll.

Notes:  
This story is set six years after the game and roughly a month and a half after my story "November Rain". This is a slice-of-life fiction. Nothing really game related. It's mostly about how they adjust to life after the game and the tolls relationships, family, and even having to deal with the fact that you can't relive the past.

These are just my own speculations about how this particular version of the relationship might go. It's all ideas in my head and how I feel my version of the protagonist would react.

Atlus owns all in game characters and the plot. I own nothing nor profit!

Also….I know about the laws in Japan regarding consent (as much as a non-lawyer can). Many people have….commented that I am mishandling it. I can see how that is but truth be told it's all been planned and this chapter will have one of the last few mentions of it. I am allowing characters to express themselves in ways that they may have with limited knowledge. Such as the version of Kawakami's parents I created, being overly judgmental, controlling, and occasionally misinterpreting the consent laws. I'm making them seem like human people and having actual flaws and not knowing everything. That's it...that's all it's meant to be and if you feel the need to talk to me...please do. PM me and approach me in an adult manner and I will be happy to talk with you about my views.

I'm sorry for those who've read this and I've turned off...that wasn't my intent I am just trying to create a story with human elements.

Chapter 1

Winter finally came to Tokyo.

A freak blizzard had hit at the start of December, blanketing the city and several prefectures. Trains in and out of the city had been limited for several days leaving many people to work from home, and even the occasional school closure. However Akira didn't have the luxuries many people were enjoying.

With the holidays coming, and some of his clients owning businesses, shoplifting and burglaries had become their primary concern. While this was a decent business boost, Futaba had gotten them wise to the level of credit card theft that happened leading to many wanting upgrades to equipment and the two of them had been working nearly nineteen hour days thanks to the increased travel time and all the upgrades. Akira had taken to leaving the office work to Futaba while he went with his employees to run installations and deliveries.

He actually enjoyed this part of the job more than he thought. He got to slink through tight spaces, find weaknesses in the buildings and pick locks. The familiar adrenaline rush as he proved his theories to the owners and dropping in on them unsuspectingly seemed to fill a vacant space in his soul. He felt like his old Joker self and it took all of his willpower to maintain a calm visage as he gave them his suggestions.

"I don't know how you do it," exclaimed Hanako as they climbed back into the van. Hanako was one of their few full-timers and she'd proven herself a valuable asset. A competent electrical engineer, she'd joined the company on a whim wanting to see what Futaba and Akira were capable of. She was roughly ten years older than Sadayo, solidly built, black hair, with bright grey eyes, and a constant grin on her face. Akira remembered when they'd interviewed her, amazed at the level of experience she had and asked why she was leaving her more lucrative career for a small start-up.

"I'm bored," she said with a blasé tone. "I was at my previous company for a long time. I've got a good savings and investments and I felt it was time to try something new. My only request is that you live up to my expectations. If you fall through I'm out the door."

So far they had failed to disappoint her.

"What are you talking about?" Akira added his old dismissive air from his Phantom Thief days, but inside he was laughing.

"I've set up buildings like this for security and fire hazards for decades and I've _never_ seen people who find the weaknesses you do." They pulled slowly into the traffic and drove for a few minutes before coming to a red light. She lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply before continuing. "You and Futaba just seem to _know_ where everything is. I've worked with people who have decades worth of experience that don't even think like you twerps."

"Maybe it's just a generation gap." Akira gave her a sly smirk and wiped some fog from his glasses. "Different generations just have different perspectives. Hell, I've had Sadayo point out things I've missed while going over floor plans."

"Maybe impending motherhood is somehow channeling her inner architect." Hanako exhaled a large cloud of smoke and groaned as they once again hit a red light. "I swear to all that is holy these fucking politicians don't give a damn about road work."

"You got plans tonight?" Akira scratched at his newly formed beard and grumbled. He'd barely been home the past few weeks and when he was it was to quickly eat, shower, and get to sleep. Sometimes he slept in his office due to the weather and spent hours on the phone with Sadayo on those nights. He kind of enjoyed those long conversations. They reminded him of the old days, back when they had to sneak around, or when they'd make plans for those weekends when they could get some privacy and be alone.

Akira had never regretted telling her how he felt. What he did regret was the pressure his confession put her under. How after he'd graduated high school and moved in with her, the few people on staff that found out began spreading rumors about how he'd gotten his grades. There had once been an investigation after their relationship became public knowledge, but there was substantial proof to prove that she hadn't manufactured his grades. Even when she'd given him some free time he usually spent it reading or doing his homework and several people testified that they'd never found them alone together or doing anything immoral when he attended the school. Though she'd been cleared people occasionally still voiced their displeasure but unlike her previous school, she'd taken to defending herself and chose not to run.

Smirking at a memory from the previous term when Ryuji had to help calm Sadayo down when ripping into someone voicing their opinion of her, he felt his phone vibrate and her face accompanied by her name and a text.

 _Hi,_

 _Just thought I'd let you know that I'm home safely. Baby is looking good and Tae says my vitals are strong. Took over two hours to get home by the train and the baby didn't make it easier. I'm worried about you, I haven't seen you in a couple of days and I miss you. Ann has been staying with me to make sure I'm okay and she's a decent cook, but I want you home. Please try to come home tonight, the bed is cold._

 _I love you._

He took a deep breath and sighed loudly at the message and sent a reply.

 _I'm sorry you're lonely. I'm going to make it home tonight, I promise._

 _I just finished a consultation and installation with Hanako and we're stuck in traffic. The roads are a nightmare and it's going to take a while. I miss you too and I'm sorry the bed is cold._

 _Tell Ann hi and give her my thanks._

 _I love you too._

"Everything okay little man?" Hanako was putting out her cigarette in the ash tray as they came to yet another red light.

"Not really." Akira felt a tinge of pink in his cheeks at her using her nickname for him. "Sadayo got home okay but she's worried about me making it home."

"Think you'll make it?" She pointed at a clock that showed it was past ten and he was stuck in Shinjuku traffic at the moment. "I mean I can drop you off at a station if you want to try? Eiko knows I'm going to be late so it's not like I'm in a rush." Hanako waved her arms at the traffic. "Besides Yoyogi isn't too far from here you might make it in a reasonable amount of time."

"That works for me." Akira yawned and scratched his cheek again. "Just head straight home. I'll find a way to mark down the gas as an expense given the weather. Shouldn't be too difficult." He took out his phone to compare his virtual schedule with his notebook only to find his virtual had been cleared for several days. Concerned about what this might mean, he dialed Futaba and felt relieved when she answered.

"What's cooking, Akira?" Futaba sounded a bit too happy given the amount of work they'd been putting in over the past several days.

"What happened to my appointments? My phone schedule doesn't match my notebook." He'd hoped his phone wasn't on the fritz. He couldn't afford the time it would take to get a new one and prayed that he figure out a solution.

"Fur af 'ood, awker," Futaba said through a mouthful of what he was sure was instant yakisoba.

"What do you mean I'm 'all good'." Akira was too tired for her happy go lucky attitude and felt his blood pressure rising. "We're supposed to be booked solid for three weeks but now my phone is showing we don't have a single appointment."

"People asked to be pushed back due to the weather." He could hear Futaba take a large gulp of some sort of drink. "We've got enough coming in now to where we don't have to worry, but January is gonna be booked. I'm going to work on updates for our on-site servers and let the suppliers know, but right now we got a nice two week break to enjoy. I'm gonna crash hard!" She let out her trademark yawn and smacked her lips. "Maybe I'll buy a new game and go on a binge. I know Kana has some free time from school soon so I'll hit her up. Want to meet up somewhere outside of work if you and Sadayo can find the time?"

Akira felt both relieved and frustrated at this news. While he didn't enjoy having January suddenly fill up, the last few weeks had been tough on him and with Sadayo's winter break coming up he'd at least have time to spend with her.

"We'll see." Akira felt like he would sleep through the next two weeks and knew that the first thing he would do when he got home was find Sadayo and put his head in her lap. "I want to spend some time with Sadayo before anything else."

"OHHHHH!" Futaba gave a lecherous chuckle. "You two gonna put your dongle into her USB slot?"

"Christ Futaba." Akira began laughing so hard his stomach began to ache. After years of friendship he'd gotten used to her unusual idioms but somehow they always made him laugh. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"Long years of pervy assholes and socially unusual hobbies." He could just imagine the malicious grin on her face. "If you want I can give you a few to use on Sadayo."

"I think we got the bedroom talk covered, Futaba." Akira could see Hanako shaking her head and trying not to laugh. "Besides, I can't steal all your best material. If I take it how're you going to hit on people at the bar or in the chats?"

"Most people are intimidated by me," she stated matter of factly. "Genius, exceptional memory, and the ability to destroy major computer systems with a few keystrokes tends to limit the dating pool."

"Well let me know if you ever need a good wing man." Akira noticed the street signs and began looking for the nearby station. "I gotta hang up in a minute but I wanted to ask if you're going to be okay getting home."

"I've been home since seven," Futaba replied with a small snort. "I got the hell out of dodge the moment the appointments got pushed back."

"All right." Akira climbed out of the car and gave Hanako his thanks before heading to the train stop. "I'm gonna hop on the train. I'll see you in a few days all right?"

"TTYL, Akira!"

Akira hung up and then immediately called Sadayo. It didn't even get to the second ring when she picked up.

"Hey!" She sounded excited and breathless. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The cold seemed to melt away at the sound of her voice. "I'm in Shinjuku right now and I'm about to get on the train."

.

"What happened with Hanako?" He heard the sound of a drawer opening and her rummaging for something.

"She's going to drive herself home. Traffic's really bad and I'm going to try and catch a train instead of fighting it."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Her voice sounded muffled and he hoped it wasn't a sign the towers were dropping the signal. "I'm worried you'll end up stranded. I want to see you."

"I want to see you too." He felt a small pain in his heart at the loneliness in her voice. "I checked the schedule and I might be a bit late, but they're running the trains a bit longer so I should be able to get home. If I have to get a hotel or something I'll be sure to call."

"Okay," she took a deep breath and he heard her wince. "I think the baby is worried about you, I've been having some stomach pains today."

"Did you call Tae or Furuya?" He knew that discomfort was bound to happen, but given the scare in November he was always on guard.

"Tae did an ultrasound today during my appointment and said everything looks good, probably just digestive issues." Sadayo winced again and he heard her shout a request for some tea. "Ann is going to stay the night again and I think Makoto might as well if she ends her shift on time."

"Okay," he felt his nerves settle a bit at this. All of their friends had long since been informed of the restrictions Sadayo had been placed under and knew what to do to help. "I'm sorry I haven't been home, but we had a bunch of clients push back their appointments so I'll have time off this month but next month is going to be hell."

"How long do you have," there was an anxiousness in her voice he hadn't heard in a while.

"According to Futaba, two weeks. Maybe longer depending on the weather." He heard her laugh happily at the news. "Just know," he hated having to be realistic but he wanted to keep a focus, "that the longer we don't have work this month means the more I'll have to work next month."

"I'll take what we can get." She laughed and he could hear the bed creak beneath her. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try and change your mind about returning to work."

"I accept that challenge." His train had arrived, almost half an hour late, but he was grateful regardless. It was nearly empty and he took a seat a few aisles away from the door. "You didn't happen to get a picture of the ultrasound did you?"

"I did and it's in an envelope like we agreed." He could hear the anxiousness in her voice. "I know we agreed not to find out, but sometimes I just want to rip open the envelopes and take a look."

"Well we got the name thing figured out. Toys and clothes are pretty much taken care of along with the furniture. All we gotta do is wait for the baby to show up. We'll worry about everything else then."

"I know," she let out a loud yawn and he heard her sit up. "Ann made a really good steak tonight. Do you want me to get some warmed up?"

"I'll let you know when I get closer to the house. I'd rather your cooking, but Ann makes some good food." He rested his head against the cold window and stared at the lights of the city. The train wasn't moving too fast but he was at least going faster than the traffic. "Is there anything specific you want to do? Christmas is coming up and I know you'll have to go into work a few days, but maybe we can go to a resort after the holiday if the weather permits? Futaba double checked my math and it looks like we'll be in the black for a bit. Nothing fancy, just some place….quiet."

"If my schedule allows it." She sounded frustrated but hopeful. "I have planning for the new term to get finished so I might have to bring work with us."

"That's fine." Akira felt himself drifting off a bit, but jerked himself awake. "I just want some alone time with you. Maybe a nice hot bath, a big room with a cushy futon, and some of those nightgowns Ann got for you. "

"Then let's take some time and make a plan. It's been a while since we took a break." He heard a longing in her voice that he was all too familiar with. "I do want to show those off for you." He could hear the pent up frustration behind her words. "I mean Morgana helps keep some of the bed warm but that's it."

"I'll be home soon." He looked at the map and saw that they had barely moved. "Just keep it as warm as you can and I'll be your personal furnace tonight."

"I like the sound of that." He could just imagine her biting her lower lip and the look of want in her eyes.

They spent a bit longer talking until Sadayo said Makoto had showed up and she needed to play hostess. When they hung up, Akira felt his eyes grow heavy and as he blinked, he felt somebody prodding him in the shoulder.

"Hey, kid."

His eyes shot open and he had to keep himself from bending the persons wrist back. Looking up he saw that it was a disgruntled looking police officer.

"Is there a problem?" Akira yawned loudly and looked at the map and saw he had arrived at his stop.

 _How long was I asleep ?_

"The conductor called me in to wake you up. Seems you've been keeping the train delayed."

"What time is it?" Akira rubbed the sleep from his eyes and saw the cop shake his head.

"It's midnight, kid." He and his partner both looked annoyed at Akira's absent-mindedness. "Conductor has to get this train back to the main terminal for the night and we'd like to get back to our station as well."

"My apologies." Akira grabbed his bag and made sure everything was still in it. When he confirmed his belongings were still where they should be, he bowed and excused himself from the train and headed up the stairs. He yawned again and wandered off toward a twenty-four hour store about six blocks from their house.

Entering he began looking through the aisles and began picking up snack foods. The restaurants near his offices were mostly built for health conscious people and while he enjoyed the food, lately he'd been craving some junk food, even if he'd been eating mostly instant yakisoba the past week. Out of reflex he began grabbing some of his and Sadayo's favorites before heading toward home.

As he wandered the streets he took in the sights and felt a bit of holiday spirit seep its way into him. Everywhere he could see lights up in the windows, late night businesses offering holiday discounts, the smell of bar food lingering in the air made his mouth water. He hadn't eaten much that day; couple of sandwiches at the most and drank mostly coffee or water. As he passed by the late night oden stand he waved to the owner who waved back asking if he wanted to warm up but he politely declined."

"Don't make me beg, Kurusu-san," teased the lady who owned the stand. "You haven't been by in weeks, you or your fiance."

"We'll come by soon," he laughed after taking the small cup of broth she offered to warm him up. It had the right amount of salt and had the lingering taste of sweet potato. "My friend Ann has been staying with her and apparently she made steak tonight."

"Oh fine." The woman gave him a dismissive wave but smiled all the same. "I know when I've lost. But you bring that young lady around when it gets warmer and that baby when it's born."

"I'll be sure to." He said goodbye to a few neighbors he recognized and made his way back home, a gentle warmth in his stomach from the broth.

He could hear music and some of the night owls in the neighborhood celebrating the weather as a sudden windfall of vacation and a reason to live it up. He began thinking about the possibility of a party until he heard somebody shout at him. Turning he saw a couple of officers approaching him. They looked miserable and had bundled up in thick winter coats and scarves.

"Excuse me sir," the voice belonged to a woman, but given the thickness of their clothes he couldn't tell who was who. "We need to talk with you."

Akira rolled his eyes, expecting to hear the usual complaint about how someone might have recognized him due to hearing a friend in the department letting slip about his record and involvement with Shido. He'd been dealing with the fallout for the past several years and he knew Shido's old allies still pestered him by siccing unsuspecting rookies or colleagues on him. Holding his ground, Akira looked between the two officers, preparing for them to bring a list of trumped up charges against him.

"What can I do for you, officers?" He was beginning to feel the snow sink into the gaps of his boots and soak his socks which only added to his annoyance. His desire to get home outweighed his vexation and he decided to play nice and let the farce run its course.

"Were you just at the convenience store a couple of blocks back?" This time it was a man who spoke and he heard it come from the shorter of the two officers.

"I was." He set the bag down and crossed his arms. "I went in to grab a few snacks for my fiance and I and then left. "

"At this time of night?" asked the female officer.

"I've been working a lot of hours due to my job. I figured it'd be a nice little surprise."

"Understandable," the female officer removed her scarf and he could see she had a tooth missing and a small scowl on her face. "We know what it's like to work long hours, but we don't normally let that keep us from following law."

"What do you mean?" Akira gave them both an indignant look; as far as he knew he hadn't done anything wrong. "I haven't done anything tonight that constitutes you accusing me of breaking the law."

"Not to our knowledge sir," said the shorter man as he wiped his nose on a handkerchief, "but the employee at the convenience store claims otherwise."

Akira raised an eyebrow and snorted. "I didn't do anything in the store except grab some snacks and pay for my food."

"If that's the case sir," the female officer raised her finger and pointed to where he'd set his bag, "then why is your food still in a basket and not in a bag?"

"What are you..." Akira turned his head and felt his stomach drop. Instead of the bag he thought he'd been carrying he saw a black hand basket. He looked between the officers and the bag, his brain running through everything in the store. Him walking through the store, finding the things he wanted and putting them in the basket, and then paying for the food. But his memory stumbled at this juncture as he asked himself, _I did pay right?_ He couldn't remember, he thought he had, he remembered walking up to the counter, but had he walked up or just walked by? He rubbed the fatigue from his eyes and knew he couldn't trust his memory.

"Sir?" The female officer pointed at the basket again and asked, "Are you sure you paid for these items?"

"I'm not sure." Akira gave them a defeated grin and picked up the basket. "I assume this is where I follow you back to the store?"

The officers nodded and Akira took the lead, praying that he'd make it home.


	2. Chapter 2

Winter Troubles a Persona 5 fanfiction

Rating: M

Pairing: Sadayo Kawakami/Protagonist

Summary:

Winter has come to Tokyo leading to Akira and Sadayo not having so much time together. Thanks to his new business, Akira hasn't been sleeping much nor has he been home and it's begun to take a toll.

Notes:

This story is set six years after the game and roughly a month and a half after my story "November Rain". This is a slice-of-life fiction. Nothing really game related. It's mostly about how they adjust to life after the game and the tolls relationships, family, and even having to deal with the fact that you can't relive the past.

These are just my own speculations about how this particular version of the relationship might go. It's all ideas in my head and how I feel my version of the protagonist would react.

Atlus owns all in game characters and the plot. I own nothing nor profit!

Chapter 2

Sadayo was beginning to worry.

It had been over two hours since Akira had called her and she hadn't heard anything since. All she could focus on was the slow passage of time while Ann, Makoto, and Morgana carried on a conversation. While she couldn't understand the cat's contributions she was able to interject her own opinions on the matter based off Ann and Makoto's responses. This particular conversation was about Ann's recent trip to America where she'd worked in New York for something called, "Fashion Week".

While Sadayo and Makoto weren't completely oblivious to the latest trends, the fact that such a thing happened every year still amazed them. It sounded rather enticing as Ann told them all about the new people she met, including some affluent celebrities, the shows she saw on Broadway, and all the delicious food she'd eaten. She could see the familiar glint of jealousy in Makoto's eyes as Ann talked. While they didn't resent Ann for her career, they did wish they had jobs that would allow them to travel.

It was one thing for Sadayo to go on school trips every year, but to have weeks where she could travel the world, meet important people, and see shows as a guest was something she dreamed about. That's wasn't to say she wasn't appreciative of her life. She had a fulfilling career and Akira was finally getting settled into his, but it was nice to dream. Though she had to admit the stress Ann was constantly under was a major downside and with her current condition it wouldn't have helped her slowly decreasing blood pressure.

That news had come as a huge relief. Though Akira wasn't home that much lately, his attempts to call and talk to her helped relax her which came as a huge relief to her and Tae earlier that day. Tae because it meant she wouldn't need to monitor Sadayo as closely while for Sadayo it meant one less pill for her to take.

"I take it you've been experiencing some of the more annoying side-effects of the medication?" Tae gave Sadayo her trademark grin as she sat down.

"The side effects aren't….well I mean I don't know if they're from the meds but…," she coughed and then blushed. "I've been having some issues in the bathroom."

"Ah." Tae gave her a knowing nod and began looking through the notes Furuya had sent her. "I see. Well I can give you something mild to help. Just make sure you're at home for the night to avoid any unpleasant experiences." She chuckled at the groan Sadayo let out at the warning. "Have you had any other problems? Dizziness? Fatigue? Insomnia?"

"Ummm," Sadayo began to fidget as she began to carefully put on her clothes, "not that I can think of."

"You are a horrible liar, Sadayo." Tae took a sip of her coffee gave Sadayo a piercing look over the rim of her cup. "I've been your doctor for a long time Sadayo and I know your body about as well as I know Akira's in the medical sense." They shared a chuckle before Takemi asked, "Let me guess. Itching, stretch marks, darkening, back pain, and also an increase in sensitivity?"

"You're too good at your job." Sadayo waved Tae over to help her put on her new bra due to the discomfort. "I haven't found anything that helps."

"There are a few things can do about that." Tae fastened the garment and gave her a gentle pat on the back. "I have some ointments that can help with the sensitivity and itching but everything else is going to just be nature taking its course." She took a moment and began looking through her cabinets. After a few minutes found a few tubes of ointment and proceeded to make a list before turning her attention back to Sadayo. "Here's some natural ointments and other things that can help. Don't you guys have a friend who works in fashion?"

"That would be Ann." Sadayo slipped her sweater over her head and began tying her shoes. "She's the blonde in the heavy jacket and jeans in your waiting room."

"Good." Tae settled down into her chair and pulled out a pamphlet. "See if she has anyone who knows about pregnancy wear; particularly around your chest. I have a few items that are recommended but see if she knows anyone who can help with preventive fitting as well as something with a bit of extra padding."

"I'll see what I can do." Sadayo took the pamphlet and bowed gratefully. "Thanks for all your help. I'm sorry I was so late in getting here."

"Don't worry about it." Tae gave her a smile and a careful hug. "You're a friend before being a patient and given the weather I'm glad you got in. I may have to shut down for the next few days if the weather report holds true but keep me and Furuya on speed dial, got it?"

"You've never left it." Sadayo thanked her and headed out with Ann.

When she'd gotten home, Sadayo tried out the ointment and felt relief for the first time in weeks. With Ann around she felt like she could finally relax, but something had been nagging her. Picking up her phone, Sadayo checked her phone and the last message she had received was him saying he'd stopped at the corner store to buy some snacks.

"He'll be home soon, Sadayo-san." Makoto got up from her spot next to Ann and sat down next to her teacher turned friend. "I don't know much about relationships, but I do know that obsessing over your phone isn't going to make time go any faster and it's not going to help your stress. You need to focus on the positive. Didn't you say that he's finally going to have some time off?"

"Yeah." Sadayo finally set her phone down and took Makoto's hand and squeezed it. "And you're right, obsessing isn't going to do me any good. Besides I want to talk about you two. Don't you have graduation coming up soon?

"So long as the weather holds out." Makoto squeezed her hand back and smirked. "But officially I'll be on duty starting on the fifth." She gave Ann a cocky smirk and said, "As a detective no less."

"That's fantastic," Ann was looking over her phone and looking completely flustered.

"Glad to see you're giving my career the same consideration as we gave yours." Makoto's glare was almost as icy as her voice.

"I'm sorry." Ann set her phone down and rubbed her temple. "Shit hit the fan at a shoot and they're trying to find a way to get me out there in the next few days."

"I thought you had plans with your parents?" Makoto's gaze had softened at this revelation.

"Well I'm not the primary for it," Ann gave a hopeful shrug, "but there's the possibility of me having to catch a flight to China in a few days but we'll just wait and see." She pulled her knees up and rested her head on them. "How're you holding up, Sadayo?"

"Better than expected." Sadayo let out a loud yawn and stretched. "My meds were lowered and Tae wanted me to ask you if you knew anyone that dealt with..." she waved her hands above her stomach, "this kind of situation."

"I might," Ann's mood lightened and she gave Sadayo a smile. "I can put in a call to a few people. Who knows I may make it a focus when I get my own clothing line?"

"You're in talks for your own line of clothes?" Makoto whined defeated and shot Ann a jealous scowl. "How did you get so lucky?"

"It's not luck!" huffed Ann before sticking her tongue out at Makoto. "I've been modeling since I was a kid and I have connections. I've been working my butt off and a friend came up to me with the concept while I was in New York. He's a pretty good designer and we talked about a few items I could model for him during events and we'd go in on the venture together."

"Yeah well it still sucks that you get to meet all these people." Makoto cast a tired look at the snow. "I've been dealing with drunks and petty thieves most nights. I'd take your job any day."

"You're welcome to switch with me." Ann leaned back and stretched loudly. "Seriously there are days where I'd rather deal with assholes than scum ball producers and journalists."

"Maybe one day if I need to go undercover." The warmth had finally returned to Makoto's voice and she gave Sadayo a wink. "It'd be fun sneaking into houses and having to search for clues for crimes again."

"It would be." A huge grin spread across Ann's face as she began describing how they'd snuck into Madarame's old house.

Sadayo and Makoto listened with rapt attention. Ann occasionally stopped as Morgana interrupted with his meowing in what seemed to be corrections to the story. Sadayo was completely enraptured by the tale. She'd heard only bits and pieces from Akira, but to hear everything, about how Madarame's mind warped reality, how he'd treated his students, and the fact that the "Sayuri" in Leblanc was nothing more than a cognitive recollection brought to reality. Occasionally she had flashes of memories involving giant skeletal creatures and blood red rain. She'd asked Akira about it once but she could barely make it through his explanation and they hadn't broached the topic again.

When Ann finished her story, Makoto was laughing at Yusuke's surprise and bombarding Morgana with questions until Ann felt the need to say, "I don't miss it as much as the others though."

"Who do you think misses it?" Sadayo had always been curious about their thoughts on the matter. Over the years she'd only managed to catch glimpses of conversations, thinking that they were over their glory days, but lately she'd seen a fervor in Akira that she hadn't seen in a long time.

"You know who we're talking about." Ann rolled her eyes and shook her head at Sadayo's question. "I mean yeah, Akira knows we can't do what we used to, but I think out of all of us he, Ryuji, and Futaba miss it the most." She pointed at her and Makoto and said, "We kind of had our own place in the world. Granted we lived in our own warped reality but we at least had a place to some extent. Those three though…."

A far off look glazed over Ann's face and Sadayo understood the meaning. Sadayo had once been like Ann; living in a reality she built for herself that so long as no one ruptured the bubble she was happy to just continue surviving in. But like so many cliched stories, that all changed when the dark stranger came to town.

"I think Ryuji's gotten better," replied Makoto interrupting Sadayo's train of thought. "He's seemed to settle down quite a bit since he met Jun."

"He's still a pain in the ass though." Ann sat up and rubbed her eyes free of sleep. "Futaba has changed the most. I remember when we first met her. If you'd have told me she'd end up being a highly sought after software engineer I would have laughed my ass off." Ann took a sip of the juice she'd brought from the kitchen and thumbed the rim before asking, "How's Akira holding up?"

"He's doing well." Sadayo felt herself growing tired, but she fought the urge to close her eyes. "I think you're right in saying that he misses your days as Phantom Thieves. I mean he has nightmares from time to time, but he's opening up more about them and how he's been feeling."

"I'm glad he's talking more." Makoto took a sip of her own, now cold tea. "I wish he had back when we went to visit him on his eighteenth birthday, it would have saved me and Yusuke a couple of sleepless nights."

"Hey!" Sadayo bolted up a little too quickly and felt a bit dizzy. After recovering she glared at both of them and growled, "I thought we all agreed to never discuss that again!"

"Oh come on," Ann was laughing at Sadayo's no cherry red face, "I'm sure we've all walked in on people at one time or another."

"Speak for yourself." Makoto was doing her best to hide her face. "You didn't have to see what I saw."

"Are you still that bashful over it?" Ann sat up and leaned forward. "Makoto it's not your fault. None of us knew and we thought….well we thought someone had broken into the house given the amount of thumping and rattling we heard."

"I can't believe we're discussing this." Sadayo got up and wandered into the kitchen for a drink. "You know it would have saved you all a lot of trauma and embarrassment had you just told him you were coming over."

"It was a surprise!" Ann's voice was laced with giggles. "It was a vacation week and we hadn't been able to celebrate his birthday with him. All we knew his parents were out of town and that he would be spending his vacation at home."

Ann shot a glance at Makoto whose face was now buried in her face. They all knew what was going through her head.

They had all made the plan to see Akira for his birthday and had pooled all their money together to cover gas, food, and two hotel rooms. They had plotted, schemed, and asked Akira multiple times what his plans were for the vacation. His answer had been the same every time, "Hang out at home and work at my part-time job."

That to them said their plan was good to go and that they'd have at least two to three days to spend time with him and celebrate. So on a warm spring Saturday morning, they packed their bags into the van and made the hours long trip to the small coast town that Akira called home for his senior year. They checked in to their hotel and after an hour nap made the long trek by foot to his family home. When they arrived, they knocked and when he didn't answer they checked the knob to find out it was open. They stood in the entryway and began looking around and weren't surprised to find the house was a bit messy which explained a lot about Akira's cleaning habits and the occasional lack thereof.

They said his name and waited for a response but all they heard were clattering noises upstairs. They all grew a little freaked out and discussed sending the strongest of them up to investigate. Yusuke required a bit of prodding but he eventually caved in to the pressure after Futaba and Haru asked him to head up. He agreed and grabbed a baseball bat that happened to be located near the front door and handed Ryuji an umbrella while Makoto was happy enough with her fists.

Their months as Phantom Thieves returned rather quickly and their footsteps were silent on their stairs and they all took strategic positions in the hall and made their way down it. The three remaining Thieves remained downstairs, Ann with a belt prepped to restrain the possible intruder, while Haru held onto what looked like lacrosse racket, while Futaba prepped some way to trip their supposed enemy. They watched as the three forms faded into the shadows, followed by a few minutes of quiet. Finally they heard it, the familiar creak of a door opening, the clamoring of feet and then loud laughs, screams of shock, horror, and embarrassment.

The people downstairs shouted up, asking what the problem was only to get bowled over to be answered with the appearance of a red faced Makoto and a flushed Yusuke. The girls all asked what was going on but the two of them kept their mouths shut as they exited the front door.

"Dude, what the fuck?!" They were surprised to hear Akira was the one who said this instead of Ryuji. They heard a scuffle and a grinning Ryuji being pushed into the hallway.

"What the hell man?!" Ryuji was laughing a bit but swinging of fists and blow landing just a bit too close to his eye made him go from amused to enraged. "Will you stop hitting me! It was an accident!"

"Haven't you guys ever heard of a phone call?!" Ryuji dodged what looked like a pillow and was followed into the hallway by a shirtless Akira who had several scratches going down the length of his back.

"You kept saying you'd be at home and working!" Ryuji ducked out of the way of a punch and slid just a bit closer to the stairs and threw a punch toward his best friend. "We thought we'd be nice and surprise you!"

"There's a fucking doorbell!" Akira dodged a blow but had to stop a picture from falling off the wall.

"We knocked and the door was open and then we heard the noise and thought someone got in!" Retorted Ryuji, standing his ground as if daring Akira to try and fight him again.

"Well why didn't you ask if it was me before you busted down my door!" Akira's face was bright red and he was scaring everyone left in the house.

"Because all we heard was shit falling and whispers! I don't know about you but those are some really shady sounds I'd figure worth investigating." Ryuji's face was red with anger now and Ann and Haru felt it necessary to intervene since Ryuji and Akira both looked like they were about to strangle each other.

Haru took Akira and Ann took Ryuji. Both men backed off but they were still breathing heavily.

"What the hell is going on with you two?" Ann glared at both of them, her belt still wrapped around her hand. "You both are way out of line and we're going to be lucky if the neighbors haven't already called the cops!"

"Everyone calm down." Haru had joined Ann as a deterrent between the two men. While only a bit bigger than Futaba everyone knew that Haru could hit fairly hard when she wanted to. "Let's just all take some deep breaths and think before we speak. We don't want to cause any damage to the property or ourselves."

"Fine." Ryuji's face was starting to return to it's usual color. "I just want it on record that I didn't throw the first punch or start any of this. All I did was open the door to make sure everything was okay and….well..." Ryuji actually blushed as he said," We didn't know someone was in the room with him."

"What do you mean he had someone in there?" Haru gave both Ryuji and Akira looks of confusion and then it finally hit them. "Oh," Haru gasped as her own face flushed. "Well, Akira-kun. You and your guest are more than welcome to join us at," she handed him the business card to the hotel, "this address when you're ready. We're in rooms three-oh-three and three-oh-five should you feel up to it. We're here a couple of days and we just want to spend some time with you."

"Trust me," Ryuji snorted as he began heading toward the front door, "his 'guest' ain't gonna wanna face us." He stopped and turned back for a second and yelled up the stairs, "I have nothing against you! I just wish he'd have been honest!"

After that, Haru and Ann left without a word to Akira; upset by both his actions and Ryuji's. They spent the rest of the day wandering around the town, shopping for souvenirs and taking pictures together. It wasn't as fun as it could have been, the absence of Akira was clearly felt, but they made the best of it until it was time to go to bed.

The Phantom Thieves didn't hear anything until the following afternoon when Akira had appeared at the cafe inside the hotel they were staying at. He was tired, stressed, and his face was blank. His jaw had a huge bruise from where they guess Ryuji had managed to punch him or had tripped during his haste to get them out of his room. He said very little but made his first apology to Makoto and Yusuke whom apparently had seen the majority of what happened. He then apologized to Haru, Ann, and Futaba for having scared them and hoped they didn't hold it against him. They had accepted, but did their best not to yell when they scolded him about his behavior. When it was Ryuji's turn, Akira hesitated. He was the first real friend Akira had made since childhood and considered him a brother, but their row had caused a rift both of them were barely ready to attempt to mend.

Finally after several minutes Akira bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry, Ryuji. Despite the fact that I maintain you guys should have told me you were coming, I will admit to overreacting. Your heart was in the right place and you didn't know what was going on. That's not your fault, that's my fault and I hope you can forgive me."

Ryuji stared at Akira, his eyes narrowed and his jaw set til he finally shook his head and said, "It's all right man. I'm sorry too." Ryuji clapped Akira on the shoulder and smirked. "I'm happy man, I am. I'm not saying you should have told us who was going to be in the room but all you had to say was you'd be spending the weekend with your girl and we'd have stayed home."

The group all nodded in agreement and Akira scratched his head, blushing heavily. "Yeah it'd have saved all of us a lot of embarrassment." He adjusted his shirt so as to cover up a love bite.

"Did your lady friend decide to join us?" Haru sipped at her coffee and everyone except Makoto and Yusuke looked up expectantly.

"Yeah, she did." Akira gave them all a frantic look and said, "Just please don't overreact when you three," he pointed to Futaba, Ann, and Haru, "see her. We spent a good deal of time arguing about it and the only reason she even agreed to come was because no one here knows her."

They all agreed and remained quiet as he left the cafe. But when he walked in they had to be asked to leave the cafe due to the amount of noise they ended up making.

"Swear to God," laughed Ann in the present as Sadayo appeared with a small tray of treats, "you looked like we were going to bite your head off!"

"Considering the fact that I taught five of you and at the time was teaching a sixth; I had every right to expect you all to jump down my throat." Sadayo carried a small drink tray into the living room and handed out drinks. "Not to mention three of you had officially seen me naked and in bed with one of your best friends."

"You helped us kill a god, Sadayo. We wouldn't have ratted you out." Makoto sipped at her tea and smiled. "You're not our teacher any more, you're our friend and a member of the family. Though if memory serves you weren't in bed but rather being pressed against…."

"Thank you for the reminder, Makoto-chan." Sadayo sipped at her hot chocolate and rolled her eyes at her friends correction. Laughter filled the room and slowly they sat and drank and nibbled a bit longer, talking about work and their plans for the holidays until there came a loud knock from the front door. They fell quiet and waited until another knock came. Sadayo asked for them to follow her to the door and as she did there was a third knock that was so hard it shook the latch to the viewing slot.

"Stand back," said Makoto as she passed Sadayo. Makoto looked back to Ann who was once again removing her belt to use as a whip, while Sadayo stayed in the rear in waiting.

"Who is it?" Makoto's voice was strong and solid. Her time at the academy and her months of experience fighting unfathomable creatures braced her for the possible confrontation.

"Hello, my name is Officer Hattori Kiyoko. I'm looking for Kawakami Sadayo." Makoto opened the latch and a shadowy figure could be seen on the front porch.

"Can I see your identification?"

"Are you Kawakami-san?" The person seemed to be rummaging for their identification but still had yet to show it.

"I'm Niijima Makoto. I'm a friend of hers and a cadet at the police academy."

"You wouldn't be related to the defense attorney would you?" The officer asked with a hint of annoyance.

"She's my sister, but she hasn't used her position to influence any of my training. However that's not the purpose of my request. You are at my friend's house in the middle of the night and to be honest you've given us all a bit of a fright."

"My apologies for that." The shadow held something up and then asked, "Can you open the door a bit so I can slide my identification through, there's no mail slot."

Makoto turned to look at Sadayo, who nodded cautiously. Makoto undid the locks and the officer slipped a black wallet like item through the crack and made no movement to shove the door open.

Picking it up, Makoto compared it to hers and then walked over to Sadayo.

"Everything looks good, do you want to talk to her? Or would you rather I call my sister and have us meet her wherever they want to take us?"

"I'll talk to her before we make that decision." Ann had relaxed when she heard Makoto say everything was agreeable, but refused to put her belt back on. "Let her in and Ann," Sadayo turned to her friend and jabbed a finger at the belt, "put that thing on before you give her the wrong idea."

Ann snorted and headed into the kitchen as Makoto let the officer in. She looked annoyed and cold, but grateful.

"Thank you." The officer took her gloves off and blew on her hands and flexed her fingers. "It's freezing out there."

"Would you like some tea?" Sadayo seemed almost as annoyed as the officer, and looked just as tired. She should have gone to bed hours ago but she'd been too worried to sleep.

"That'd be lovely thank you."

"Follow me." The officer followed, with Makoto right behind her and when they entered the kitchen, Ann had put her belt back on and was filling a tea kettle. "Thanks, Ann. I'll finish that."

"You sit," Ann was looking grumpy and they all knew when this happened it best to leave her alone. "You're tired enough and I told Akira I'd take care of you until he got home."

"Nice home," the officer looked around and smiled at the sight of Mona coming in to check out what was going on. "What a beautiful cat." She reached out to pet him, but Mona backed off and hid behind Makoto's legs meowing loudly.

"Relax, Morgana. This is a police officer and they're..."

The cat meowed loudly over Makoto and the girl picked him up and carried him upstairs whispering softly to it.

"My cat's just as talkative." Hattori took the cup Ann had prepared and sipped. "Oh that's good. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome." Sadayo rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned. "I'm not trying to be rude when I ask this, but what has he done now?"

"I'm sorry," Hattori asked after nearly choking on her tea.

"The only time we ever have to deal with police is when one of you has decided to bother my fiance." Sadayo was a mildly confused at the officer's reaction, but she figured it was just the woman playing coy. "So I'm going to ask again, what are you guys harassing him about now? It's after one in the morning and you came here to our home asking for me by name. So he's either being charged with something he didn't do or he's in the hospital. So which is it?"

Hattori set her mug down and gave Sadayo a confused look. "Kawakami-san, I'm not sure about the first part. I've never been told about any of your fiance's history with the police. All I can tell you is that he was in the convenience store down the street and we'd received a call after he left that he hadn't paid and we found him and took him back to the store."

"And I assume he paid for whatever it was he walked out with?"

"Of course." Hattori was beginning to grow uncomfortable. "But we had to call an ambulance afterward."

"What the hell do you mean you had to buy a call an ambulance?!" Both the newly arrived Makoto and Ann looked at each other in surprise that they'd asked the same thing in unison.

"He hit his head." Hattori squirmed in her chair at the glare Sadayo was giving her. "Had he just returned and paid for the food we were going to let him go, no harm, no foul. It was an honest mistake. But as he was leaving, he staggered, fell and hit his head on a shelf and we had to call an ambulance."

"I'm going to assume that there's actual video evidence of your claim?" Sadayo was in no mood for games and wanted to make sure they had evidence in case they needed to call Sae.

"The store has several cameras and we retrieved all footage of our interaction." Hattori's face flushed in embarrassment as she spoke. "We honestly didn't know what happened but we felt something was wrong but he wasn't drunk or anything so we had no reason to detain him. But once he hit his head we had him taken to the nearby emergency clinic and a doctor is looking him over right now and he asked if I could come and pick you up and take you to him."

"He's such a troublemaker." Sadayo pushed herself from the table and bowed. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Can you please inform someone that we'll be there shortly?"

"Will it just be you and I or are your friends coming as well?"

Sadayo looked to Ann and Makoto, "I assume you two will want to come?" They both nodded and Hattori got on her radio and explained the situation to the person on the other end.

They were at the emergency clinic within the hour. All three women bundled up in winter clothes while lacking Morgana. The cat had put up a valiant effort to join them, but after several minutes of arguing with Makoto and Ann in the guest room he had rescinded his desire to join them and nestled in the living room watching a movie that Sadayo had turned on for him.

The clinic wasn't much further than the store but ice had begun to form on the streets and Hattori made it a point to drive carefully. When they entered they were greeted by two nurses and an older, disheveled looking doctor who was reading a newspaper who stopped only to glance at them over the top of it.

"He's in the back resting." Growled the doctor from behind his paper. "Your partner is there too keeping an eye on him. He's calmed down but still a bit fidgety."

"Thanks, doc." Hattori led them to the back room where four gurneys were set up, with only one of them being occupied by a lightly sleeping Akira and a disgruntled looking male officer.

"About damn time," huffed the man as he stood up. "Captain wants to know what's going on so we need to head back as soon as we can." He looked over Sadayo and the others and snorted. "Keep an eye on him. He's wasted enough of my time."

Sadayo glowered at the man and said, "I'll be sure to do that officer. Thank you so much for all your help."

The man looked like he was about to snap but Hattori raised her hand and bowed to the three women. "We're sorry for the inconvenience. The owner of the store and us are not going to be pressing charges so please do not worry about any repercussions."

Sadayo returned the bow and the two officers left and they approached him.

He was almost unrecognizable to her, even though it'd only been a few days. He hadn't shaved and she had to admit the bit of beard he was growing did look good on him. But he looked wasted. His face had a sunken look, there was little color to it, his eyes had large circles under them, and the large amount of gauze and medical tape above his left eye didn't help calm her; nor did the I.V. plugged into his arm.

"He looks so peaceful." Makoto had pulled up a chair and sat on the side closest to the window and stared at her old leader.

"He doesn't always sleep this well." Sadayo wished she could climb into the bed and hold him. "I think he's so burnt out that his body can't muster the energy to have a nightmare."

"I've been there." Ann was standing at the foot of the bed, looking uncomfortable in the clinical setting. "I've had some so bad I've scared some of my bodyguards."

"I had a few bad ones last night," Makoto hummed quietly as she gave Ann an understanding look. "Sis had to calm me down. Took me a long time to fall back asleep." She gave Akira a jealous smile, "I wish I could sleep that well."

"I'm not sleeping." Akira's eyes opened and he smirked as they all stared at him in shock. "I was about to until you all came in." He sat up and felt Sadayo's hand squeeze his wrist. He looked at her and then lowered his eyes in shame at the look of anger on her face.

"You little…," she punched him in the shoulder which made him wince in pain.

"OW!" Akira pulled his arm away and rubbed where she'd punched. "Seriously I'm getting tired of the hitting. I don't appreciate it."

"It's only the second time," huffed Sadayo as she crossed her arms.

"And I've never done it to you." Akira scowled and looked out the window. "So please stop it. I don't appreciate it nor do I enjoy it."

Realizing that the ice was about to crack, Makoto and Ann stood up and excused themselves. They stood outside the door but continued to occasionally glance through the door's window to keep an eye on things.

Several minutes of strained silence followed until finally Sadayo exhaled and nodded. "You're right." She rubbed her face to try and wake herself up. "You've never done that to me and I shouldn't be doing that to you. It's not right." She touched the bit of blood that was leaking through the gauze on his forehead and frowned. "You scared the crap out of me tonight. I didn't know where you were, then the cops show up and tell me you shoplifted and…."

"I didn't mean to." Akira rolled his eyes and took her hand. "I honestly thought I had paid and had a bag in my hands." He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "All this because I forgot to pay for twelve-hundred yen worth of snacks for us."

"What happened?" Sadayo squeezed his hand and looked on the verge of tears. "I've been waiting all night for you to come home."

"Mind if I interrupt?" The doctor had entered, doing the interrupting knock and enter routine. "I do apologize but I think I can answer your question Kawakami-san if you're okay with that?"

"Fire away, doc." Akira leaned back and began stroking the top of Sadayo's hand with his thumb. "It's not like I can hide the truth from her."

The doctor took the seat Makoto had been sitting in and pulled out Akira's chart. He flipped through a few pages and gave Sadayo a concerned look and said, "Before I start, I'd like to ask you about his work habits as of late, just to confirm my suspicions. So if you could, could you please tell me as much as you can?"

With Akira's consent, Sadayo rambled off how little she'd seen Akira, his average work hours over the past several weeks, and what little she knew of his diet. The doctor nodded and looked at Akira and looked like he was about ready to smack him.

"So you were telling the truth." The doctor flipped to the chart and read aloud, "Dehydration, the beginnings of malnutrition, excessive caffeinated and sugared drinks affecting your kidneys, and lack of sleep. All signs that show the beginnings of fatigue and exhaustion." He set the chart back at the foot of the bed and crossed his arms. "You keep this up you're going to end up with something worse and next time you might not be so lucky."

"So you said." Akira had a grim smile on his face and touched the gauze. "Twenty stitches isn't so bad though when you think about the alternative."

"Twenty?" Sadayo looked between him and the doctor. "How big of a cut did he have?"

"Rule of thumb for stitches is one stitch per centimeter. So fifteen centimeters or three inches, but I had to do twenty because the cut was a bit wide" The doctor sighed loudly. "If it'd hit any lower it might have permanently damaged his eye."

"But I didn't." Akira took a shallow sip of water and gave them both a calm look.

"That's not the point, Akira." Sadayo's hand was now gripping his so tight that he felt it beginning to grow numb. "You could have gone blind or worse."

"I do know how to take care of myself." His voice was short and his eyes downcast.

"I'm sure you can but pardon me if I don't have your confidence." The doctor shot a glare at Akira that sent chills down his spine. "I've been a doctor longer than you've been alive and I can't tell you how many times I've seen people waste away pulling the crap you've been." The doctor gave Sadayo a slightly softer, but still rough stare. "You're working hard for your family and that's commendable. But don't be like those fools that work themselves to the bone and forget what they're working for."

Akira felt the urge to be ask the doctor if he had experience in that department but bit his tongue.

"I'm gonna keep you til at least midday. We're going to change your I.V. in a bit and monitor your vitals. Then we'll call you a cab and send you home where you're going to stay in bed, both of you," he gave Sadayo a concerned look before continuing, "for at least two days. Fluids and healthier foods than instant yakisoba and convenience store take out. Got it?"

"Got it." Akira couldn't bring himself to look at the doctor, but at least he'd answered.

"I'm also going to contact your primary once her business hours start and let her know what's going on. Until then, Kawakami-san," the doctor pointed to the door, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I can cover a cab since you aren't that far away. But once you're discharged, "he turned back to Akira, a cold glare on his face, "I don't want to see you unless your life is in serious danger 'cus if it isn't it will be."

The doctor left without another word while Ann and Makoto talked happily outside the door.

"Twenty stitches?" Was all Sadayo could muster after ten minutes of silence.

"It wasn't like I planned on this." Akira gave her a pleading look. "I went into the shop because I thought you'd like the snacks."

"That's not the point." She looked on the verge of crying. "What is it with us and this time of year? First one you turn yourself in. Then a couple of years later my parents practically disown me. Then you've pretty much worked yourself to death this year?"

"Sadayo," he sighed trying to find the words to get her to understand. "I'm fine I'm safe and."

"You could die from working like this." She began listing off everything the doctor had said to them. "Your kidneys could shut down or you could have broken your head wide open and died right there in that convenience store."

"Sadayo," he was trying to get her to calm down but she wasn't listening.

"You could have been hit by a..."

"I'm not Takase." Akira had finally said what had been on his mind since he'd been working so many hours. He knew she'd been thinking about it, he could always tell when she was worried about his hours that she would think about Takase.

"That's low, Akira." Sadayo's voice was little more than a whisper. "You have no right to bring him up. You and him are completely different in this regard.

"Maybe," Akira didn't really care but he needed to get this off his chest. "I didn't know him, I know you cared about him and those pieces of shit worked him to death but the key difference here is that he is not engaged to you. He is not going to marry you and he is not the father of your child." Akira turned his gaze on her and saw that her jaw was clenched and her nostrils were flared. "When we get married, my debts become your debts and the same goes for me. We have the mortgage, credit cards, my loan, and now the medical bills that will be due for the baby. I'm not at the liberty to go into Mementos any more and spend a night where I can walk out with nearly a million yen. In case you forgot I worked my ass off for two years to try and get a job lined up for after I graduated but kept getting shot down because of my record. This was one of the few options I had open to me and you supported my decision to do it but now after one mishap you're suddenly telling me to stop?"

"I'm not saying you should give up on this." Sadayo's voice was quiet but he could hear the anger hidden behind her words. "I more than anyone know the pressures you're under." She took a deep breath in order to keep herself from screaming. "You forget that I've been in a similar place like you; barely keeping your head afloat while your health deteriorates. I saw him fall to it, I've fallen to it, and now," she pointed at all the medical equipment, "you've fallen victim to this curse that seems to plague me."

Akira could barely bring himself to look at her. Even though they barely thought about the difference in their age, he could suddenly see the years she had over him. The years of working herself to the bone showed in her eyes in the forms of small crows feet. Her hands, though she took care of them with lotions and ointments, showed the years she spent working tough part time jobs.

"I appreciate your support and your concern Sadayo, believe me I do. But, I essentially have made myself the face of the business. I have taken clients from other companies with a promise that I will provide greater service than their previous providers. I have schedules to keep. I'm a start up and I have not only us three to worry about but, Futaba, Hanako, Daisuke, and all my part-timers." He felt a giant lump form in his throat and tried to swallow it but he couldn't. "I'm not trying to hurt you but I can't let anyone down. If I could go back to Mementos to earn money I would but this is all I can do; it's all we got. I can't fail you."

"Do you honestly think I care about all that?" Her eyes were red from fatigue and from holding back tears. "Akira, I know that you aren't just doing this for us. I've seen the look in your eyes. How you and Futaba get when you talk about your plans. I know you miss it. I'd be a fool if I didn't notice the rush you get when you talk about your work." She took a deep breath and met his stare. "You are not Joker anymore, you can't be him ever again; you said it yourself but there's no point in trying to relive those days if you end up dead."

Words were lost on him when he heard this. She was right to an extent, he did find some excitement feeling like Joker again. But that was all it was to him, a feeling.

"Sadayo." He reached out for her hand but she moved away. He retracted his hand; shocked that she'd denied him touching her, but he kept his composure. "Sadayo, I know you think I'm going through some sort of early life crisis but I'm not." Akira looked at her but she'd kept her gaze averted. "I just want you to know that I'm not. I've been through hell enough in my life. I've nearly died so many times and I've faced things much scarier than hitting my head."

"But one blow to your head and you could bleed out." She pulled a handkerchief out of her bag and wiped her eyes. "One accident and you get stuck somewhere and then what happens to all our hard work? Have you thought about that at all?"

"It's why I'm working this hard; why we're working this hard." Akira kept his hands in his lap as they absentmindedly wrung his sheets.

"I understand that." Sadayo dabbed at her eyes again before continuing, "But hard work doesn't mean a damn thing if you aren't around. Do you honestly think nearly killing yourself is worth it?"

"Of course you two are worth it." He watched as her cheeks turned bright red and felt ashamed that he'd said such a thing. "I'm trying to get you to see my side when I say that, but I do mean it. Everything we've built is worth it and I want you two to be proud of me and for our kid to know that no matter what people say their dad isn't some worthless crook."

"Then come home at night." Sadayo finally gathered the strength to at least take him by the arm. "It doesn't mean anything if neither of us comes home."

"I want to," he took his left hand, the one free of the I.V. needle, and clasped hers, "and I will but I'm going to be busy for a long time after this vacation unless the weather clears up. It's not going to be fun, but we need the money. I have nothing left. Everything I saved from our days as Phantoms went into paying my tuition, my part of the rent from the apartment, helping with the down payment on the house, the loan." He could see his blood pressure rising on the machine next to him as he spoke. "I can't fail at this Sadayo because if I do we're screwed."

"Stop that." Sadayo took his face in her hands and pressed her forehead to his. "You're not going to fail at this; I won't let you. But you can't keep doing this to yourself. I know you're worried about us but right now we're fine. We had more than enough to cover a large chunk of the house cost, we're ahead on the bills, and we're slowly building a savings. This whole situation is tough on both of us but we're going to be okay." She kissed his forehead. "So please stop stressing yourself out."

"I'll try." Akira took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes; focusing on her touch. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

"I know you are." She kissed him and was thankful that he reciprocated. When they separated she could see a somber look in his eyes. "What's bothering you?"

"I'm sorry for bringing Takase up." He gave her a cautious look and rubbed the back of his neck. "You're right, that was low."

"I'm not happy about it." Sadayo shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "We are going to talk about it, but I'm too tired." She rubbed her belly and placed his hand on it. "The baby is tired too."

"Then you should head home and get some sleep." Akira yawned and winced as he accidentally brushed the needle to his I.V. "Do you work tomorrow?"

"I have a phone conference at ten and then I'm going to go grocery shopping if the roads are any better." She ran her hands through his hair and gave him a wistful smile.

"Okay." Akira couldn't hide his disappointment that she might not be home when he got there. He couldn't look at her so he instead acted like he was making sure his needle hadn't gone in further.

"Want me to tell the nurse to come check on you?" She rose from her seat and checked his hand to make sure he wasn't bleeding.

"Please." His left hand covered hers gently and he looked up at her and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry I scared you and I'm sorry for the past few weeks."

She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, the feel of his beard made her chuckle and she couldn't help but run her fingers through it. "Don't worry about that right now. Get some sleep and I'll see you later, okay?

He mustered the strength to squeeze her hand which stopped her mid-step. He could see the pain but also the happiness at the knowledge he would be okay.

It took what little strength he had left to whisper, "I miss you."

She smiled at him, her chest warming as she said. "I miss you too."


	3. Chapter 3

Winter Troubles a Persona 5 fanfiction

Rating: M

Pairing: Sadayo Kawakami/Protagonist

Summary:

Winter has come to Tokyo leading to Akira and Sadayo not having so much time together. Thanks to his new business, Akira hasn't been sleeping much nor has he been home and it's begun to take a toll.

Notes:

This story is set six years after the game and roughly a month and a half after my story "November Rain". This is a slice-of-life fiction. Nothing really game related. It's mostly about how they adjust to life after the game and the tolls relationships, family, and even having to deal with the fact that you can't relive the past can have on a person.

These are just my own speculations about how this particular version of the relationship might go. It's all ideas in my head and how I feel my version of the protagonist would react.

Atlus owns all in game characters and the plot. I own nothing nor profit save for my Ocs and the direction I took the story in.

Chapter 3

When he awoke, Akira felt worse than when he had fallen asleep. His head throbbed and his wound was pulsating violently. Sitting up, he winced as pain ravaged his body and he fell back into the pillows. He looked around, trying to gain the slightest hint of where he was and then it hit him. The room he was in was the ward inside the emergency clinic near his house. Rubbing his eyes he searched for his glasses and found them on the bedside table. The room cleared up instantly once he had them on and he slowly began scanning the room.

From what he could see, he was still the only person in the room and didn't know whether to be thankful or embarrassed. Feeling his hand stiffen, Akira tried flexing it only to be reminded of the needle that had been inserted the night before. Aside from his head and the drowning urge to fall back asleep, he felt better than he had in a long time and smiled, only to have his celebration mired by biological imperatives. Climbing cautiously to his feet, he put on his slippers and limped toward the bathroom. When he was almost there the door burst open and standing in front of him was a woman in a doctor's coat, a tray of instruments, and an authoritarian feeling to her.

"Look who's finally awake." The woman flipped on the light, forcing Akira to step back and cover his eyes. "We've been waiting for you to get up for a long while."

"Who are you?" Akira blinked rapidly trying to regain his vision.

"I'm Doctor Iwada." She searched through her tray and handed him a cup. "Please take care of this for me while you're in there."

Akira stared at the cup and then up at the doctor, an eyebrow arched and his jaw slightly slackened.

"What?" She asked incredulously while moving the tray over to his bed. "Don't tell me you've never had to do that for a doctor before?"

"I'm just confused as to the why." Akira looked between her and the cup; a coy smirk on his lips.

"Get in the bathroom and do what you need." The doctor's voice was stressed and he could see her frustration beginning to boil over. "Just leave it in there. I'll collect it later."

Deciding to follow her orders, Akira did what was requested of him and returned to the bed to find her waiting with gloves on and a large needle in her hand. He grimaced at the thought of being poked again. His hand was throbbing from the IV and having blood drawn was the last thing he wanted to do today. He rescinded to her instructions and allowed her to take what she needed from him and after removing his IV needle she removed his bandage and began checking his wound.

"This is a lot deeper than he let on." Her delicate touch was a wonderful contrast to her rough demeanor. Akira could barely feel her fingers as she cleaned him up and applied the ointment the previous doctor had applied."Is this your first time having stitches like this?"

"Not necessarily." Akira waited patiently as she applied the surgical tape to the gauze. "I've never really received medical attention for something like this."

"But you're no stranger to scars." She winked and gave him a pat on the head.

"It's not what you think." Akira had seen people stare at his scars when he and Sadayo had gone to the beach or any place where being partially dressed was the norm. He'd heard kids laugh at them and hushed whispers so often that he'd taken to leaving his shirt on or wearing a lightweight hoodie when they went to those places.

"There are very few people who could tolerate what you've had done to you." The doctor went to her vials and began filling out the labels. "I'm surprised you survived that many injuries and with little to no medical treatment."

Akira knew she wanted more answers, but he kept quiet about it and asked, "How much longer will I be here?"

"You can get dressed." The doctor was too consumed with her work to pay him much attentio.n. As he dressed he could feel her eyes on him, but he paid little attention and disappeared behind the dressing screen.

"Do you know how long I'm going to need to keep these in?" He changed out of the gown they had given him and reappeared in front of her in his normal clothes, ready to head home.

"You'll need to get your stitches removed in about two weeks." The doctor handed him a prescription and began searching for a fresh bottle of antibiotic cream. "The wound should heal properly but keep it dry and bandaged for the next few days."

Taking the slip, Akira read it and recognized the name of a common antibiotic. Looking at her he saw the bandages she'd removed and noticed the blood and pus that had soaked into it. Praising his hand he pointed at the bandages and asked, "Is that normal considering the stitches?" 

"It'll be normal for some time." Unable to find a fresh bottle of the ointment, she handed the one she'd used to him and said, "It'll stop soon enough. Just be sure to remove the bandages carefully so you don't accidentally remove the stitches."

"Will do, Doc." Akira grabbed his stuff and followed the doctor out into the lobby where he received a pamphlet on appropriate care reminded him about how often he needed to clean his wound and how to change his bandages. When the door closed behind him, he shivered and felt a sudden throbbing in his head as the cold air hit his wound. Shivering he looked around to get his bearings and wasn't surprised at the condition of the streets.

The streets were cleared somewhat but there were almost no cars on the streets and from what he could see from the app on his phone the trains were running on reduced schedules. Adjusting his gloves, Akira wandered down the sidewalk and into the light snowfall that had started earlier that morning. There weren't as many kids on the streets as there had been a couple of days ago, but there were still plenty running around causing problems. Remembering something Sadayo had mentioned when they were on the phone the night he'd been taken to the clinic about instituting online courses, Akira wandered into the nearest pharmacy and purchased a hat and dropped off his prescription before returning to the cold streets where he was immediately pelted with a snowball in the shoulder.

It hurt a lot more than he'd expected and looked in the direction where it had come from and saw five kids standing near two small walls of snow. All of the ones who had snowballs, immediately dropped them and began pointing at one another, trying to lay blame on their friends. Grabbing several handfuls of snow, Akira packed them all tightly into balls and began chucking them at the kids. They all dived behind their tiny fortresses and began returning fire. Akira dodged between the balls, several of them glancing off his clothing, while a few actually struck him. They hurt, but he refused to let them slow him down. He ducked behind a mailbox and began packing snow as quickly as he could, returning fire every couple of snowballs while the barrage from the kids continued.

"Take that!"

"I can see his head!"

"Go for his arms!"

The shouts caught the attention of the few adults that had remained opened for business. Some of them laughed while others began to shout at the kids to stop. One of them, an older woman in a leaf motif shirt and jeans, exited her flower shop and continued to shout at them until a stray snowball struck her in the face.

"Bail!" shouted one of the kids and even Akira decided it best to run away.

Taking a different route than the kids, Akira began looking for a building he knew of nearby and ducked into it once he saw the sign. Catching his breath he scanned the room and saw it was about half full. Several people were at small tables, eating food and sipping drinks while the bar remained nearly empty. Sitting at one of the seats about three-quarters of the way down, Akira ordered a beer and some snacks removing his gloves and hat. He checked his bandage and found it dry and still situated where the doctor had left it.

"Thank you," he said as the cook brought him some water before pouring his beer.

"No problem." She gave him a smile and asked, "Do you want your usual starters?"

"Please?" Akira gave her a thankful smile before adding, "But I'll go with goma-ae instead of karaage this time."

"Nice choice. We just got in some fresh vegetables this morning." The cook gave him another warm smile but he saw her eyes flit up toward his bandage.

"I passed out in a convenience store last night." His hand gently touched the bandage as he blushed.

"Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" She filled a mug of beer and handed over some edamame as she gaped at his wound.

"I spent the night at the clinic." He took a sip and nibbled on a piece of soy bean "Got a huge cut and some bruising but nothing else."

"And you're spending your day drinking beer and eating bar food?" She returned with the vegetables and dipping sauce.

"I'm just waiting on a prescription." The beer wasn't too powerful, but he enjoyed the taste. "My clients all shut down until the weather clears so I don't really have any work right now and since the roads can't be driven on I have to pick up my prescription. Hence," he opened his arms in gesture at the bar, "I'm spending some time here in your lovely company."

"Yeah, yeah." The cook gave him a smirk and changed the channel to a soccer match someone requested and went back to cooking some food.

Akira turned his attention to the match, but he barely paid any attention. He felt a pang of guilt when she asked him about spending his day in the bar. While it was true that the prescription wasn't necessary that day, it provided a useful cover for him to delay going home. He was tired and wanted to get some more sleep, he was still feeling leery at facing Sadayo.

When he'd opened his eyes the previous night, he was prepared for the looks of relief on Makoto and Ann's faces, he wasn't prepared for Sadayo's. The look of complete fear, relief, and heartbreak clouding her face felt like his soul was being stabbed. Unlike Makoto and Ann, Sadayo didn't fully retain her memories of that day when Mementos merged with the real world. She had on occasion told him about dreams where she's been standing on the street staring up at giant skeletons and pink rain, but like the rest of the those who'd lived through that day the memories were fleeting and it was only when Akira had explained them she understood some of what he went through. She'd taken the news well, but had bombarded him with questions for hours until satisfied with his replies. With that knowledge, Sadayo seemed comfortable more comfortable talking to him about his days as a Phantom Thief, even if most of the time it was only after he had a nightmare.

He was glad that she didn't have to deal with the pain of having to relive that hell. She was free of it to some extent, save for those nights when he disappeared into his mental quagire. But last night rocked something in him that he hadn't planned on. He felt ashamed that he'd broken his promise again. He'd disappointed her and had become so absorbed in his own shit that he kept her up all night worrying and scared that he'd seriously hurt himself. He munched on a piece of carrot as the home team on the screen scored a goal, but he didn't cheer with the others, instead he took another small sip of his slowly warming beer and rubbed his eyes.

He was tired and wanted to sleep but the memories of last night were all he could see. Akira hated seeing that look on her face, that look from when she'd first mentioned Takase; the one that said she held herself responsible for his decisions. Shame crept through his brain again and he let his forehead rest on the cool bar. The fact that he'd brought up Takase was bad enough, but at the time he felt it was pertinent to the situation. He wanted her to know that she didn't need to worry about him; but the effect had been the opposite and now he was afraid to face her.

As he tried to figure out a way to work things out with her, Akira heard a dull thud on the bar and looked up in surprise at the sight of a plate with grilled chicken livers and hearts on it.

"What's this?" Akira lifted one of the bamboo skewers and resisted the urge to bite into one of the tiny livers.

"Lady at the end of the bar ordered it for you." The cook shrugged but gave him a warm smile none the less. "Said you needed a bit of a pick me up so she ordered those for you."

Akira was both thankful and frightened by the fact that a complete stranger had ordered two of his favorite bar foods for him. Only a few people knew of his favorite foods and Akira gave a cautious look at the end of the bar only to feel his stomach sink at the familiar face he saw sitting there. She hadn't changed much. She still had a pretty face, piercing black eyes, long brown hair, and a smile that could break hearts with a simple flash. She was fit and seemed entranced by the game on the screen, her eyes ignoring everyone but the people on the screen. Like him, she had chosen to have a beer but had opted for chicken wings instead of vegetables.

Nausea swept over him as the weight of her presence finally hit him. He couldn't avoid her now, she'd seen him and he had to explain himself after nearly a year of almost complete silence. Gathering up his food he made the slow march toward her and sat down near her, keeping a seat between them. Sliding the plate of liver and hearts over, she grabbed a skewer of hearts and bit two of them off.

"You look like shit." Her eyes left the screen as took in his baggy eyes, sunken cheeks and bandaged forehead. "The beard suits you though. You actually look a bit more like an adult, but I don't like the hair."

"I'm not really concerned with that right now." He picked up a skewer of grilled livers and bit into them. He chewed in contemplation for a moment and then asked, "What the hell are you doing here, I thought you were at school?"

"I'm out on winter break." She drained her beer and ordered another. "I'd be at swimming practice right now but the pool is shut down for renovations." She gave him a smile and rested her chin in the palm of one of her hands and asked, "You aren't excited to see me?"

"That's beside the point." He shook his head and chugged the remainder of his beer in hopes it would calm him down. "I'm more concerned how the hell you knew I was in here. Have you been following me?"

She choked back a laugh that caught the attention of several patrons but they soon lost interest once she'd quieted down.

"I have more important things to do than follow you around." She squeezed his hand, a fondness crept into her eyes when he squeezed back. "If truth be told I just happened to wander in here about ten minutes before you did to get out of the cold, ordered a beer and when I come out of the bathroom I saw you sitting at the bar looking morose and decided to send you that little pick me up."

"I appreciate it, Eiko. I really do." Akira let her hand go and returned to his food. "I'm sorry if I was rude, I just didn't expect you here. We haven't talked in a while so I figured you were mad at me about something."

"I'm not mad about anything." Eiko took her new beer and gulped loudly before sighing. "Well I can't say that I'm not mad about anything. I just saw _her_ an hour ago leaving the grocery store and don't think I didn't notice….." Eiko tapped the rings on his left hand.

"You know we've been engaged for a couple of years now." Akira pulled his hand away and fondled the rings gently before taking another bit of food. "I just wanted her to have a ring I picked for her to go with the one she gave me."

"That's what she said." There was a mild disappointment in Eiko's voice but he couldn't place why. "I just wish you'd have told me about that and the baby."

Akira swallowed the remaining food so quickly he had to massage his throat to get it down all the way.

"How do you know about that?"

"I just said I saw her an hour ago!" Eiko rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Did your brain get rattled when it got cut open?"

"I've been through a lot the last few months." Akira scratched at his beard and shook his head. "I've kind of been out of it lately."

"I couldn't tell." Eiko helped him finish off the last of their food before checking her watch and calling for the bill.

"I got this," yawned Akira as he reached for his wallet.

"No you don't." Eiko paid the bill without any complaint and after thanking the cook they left. Once outside, Eiko watched quietly as Akira put his hat on and asked, "So what else do you have planned today?"

"I'm going to grab a prescription I dropped off and head home." Akira rubbed his eyes and gave her a questioning look. "Why? What are you up to?"

"I was just seeing if you wanted company." Eiko gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You seem like you could use it."

"I might." Akira shrugged and felt her hand slip off his shoulder. "I don't know what's going on at home so I don't know if it's a good idea if you stop by."

They slipped into an uncomfortable silence as they headed toward the pharmacy. Eiko remained quiet and grabbed a few snacks while Akira finished his business. With that completed they wandered the streets toward his house in a tense quiet. He wanted to talk, but something kept him from striking up a conversation. The last time he'd seen her they hadn't enjoyed one another's company that much and ended up parting with a loud argument over something so trivial he couldn't even remember. One look at her face told her she was just as distressed and he finally decided to break the ice.

"You figured out what you're going to do after school?" He remembered her saying that she'd planned to switch majors at the start of the year to journalism instead of sports medicine but he hadn't heard anything since.

"I'm going to start an internship this summer at an online newspaper." She smiled as she watched a few kids rush past, laughing loudly and screaming something about grabbing their sleds. "They also do video reports and if I do well I can get travel opportunities for story coverage in other nations."

"So you'd be out of the country often?" Akira knew she traveled for her softball scholarship, but if she was hired by this company international travel would be more frequent. "I mean a lot of papers like this can fall through at a moments notice. If that happens, what happens if they send you out of the country and they shut down?"

"Every ticket is round trip." Eiko's voice was soft and warm as if thanking him for his concern. "I'd be able to get home, but I'd probably have to stay at a hostel or something until my flight."

"And if you're in a place that suddenly has a civil war happen?"

"I'll be fine." She pulled him close and linked her arm with his. "I'm not going to get hurt. I've got too many reasons to come back to let some assholes keep me from coming home."

"You'd probably kill them and take over a boat or plane if you needed to."

"Well if I had you along, we wouldn't need to worry about that." She gave him a warm smile and nudged him with her elbow. "You could probably sneak us aboard, Mr. Phantom Thief."

With that small exchange the tension was cut and they both relaxed, exchanging stories about work and school experiences. Akira felt a bit calmer but when Eiko suddenly brought up Sadayo, he felt his mood sour again.

"If you don't want to talk about it, we won't," said Eiko as they turned the corner that led to his house. "But you have to admit you two getting engaged and her being pregnant was something you may have wanted to tell me."

"You would have found out eventually." Akira kicked a large mound of snow that turned out to be the collapsed head of a snowman. He glanced around to see if the builders were nearby and exhaled loudly when no one yelled at him.

"Still doesn't mean you couldn't have opened your damn mouth. I don't mind you hiding the engagement but her being pregnant isn't exactly something you keep quiet about."

"What part of I've been busy don't you get?" Akira was beginning to lose his patience and the guilt wasn't helping his anger. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but this isn't the conversation I want to have right now."

"You'll have to have it some time." Eiko picked up a bit of snow and chucked it at a street sign. It rang like a hammer to an anvil and she huffed loudly. "It's not my fault you pushed me away."

Akira stopped just outside the front gate to his house and took a deep breath and let that small bit of truth wash over him. She was right that she hadn't been responsible for him not talking. He'd had a hard time trusting her after that happened. She'd been the one person he could always confide in before Sadayo. They used to spend hours staying up at night talking and staring at the ceiling or the stars. Hiding around her had never truly been an option, but for the past several years he'd blocked her out save for their occasional meet-ups. But when he'd been sent away, that all changed. For some reason he'd blamed her as much as his parents, but he'd always known that had been unfair.

Turning around, Akira returned to her and nodded saying, "You're right. It's not your fault I pushed you away. I did that myself, but after what happened can you blame me? I felt abandoned by you. You were my best friend and once someone opened their damn mouths you just kept quiet and didn't even bother to stick up for me."

"I wasn't there." Her eyes focused on the ground and she began digging her toe into the snow. "I couldn't do anything or corroborate your story. What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair and scratched his head. "I just wished you had done something and instead you, like everyone else ,just kept quiet and let the judges pass that fucking sentence. I got kicked out of school, people who I thought were my friends up and abandoned me. I spent a year getting called a thug or a delinquent and oddly enough became one to an extent. But," he looked up and shrugged, "I felt alone for a long time, even after I found my friends and Sadayo. You never called me, never wrote to me. I never even got a birthday card from you and I had to make my own way around here. I made it work, but it would have been nice to know my little sister was in my corner rooting for me."

"Is that why you keep things from us now; from Sadayo too?" There wasn't a hint of accusation in her voice, just curiosity and contrition. "Akira I am sorry I wasn't there for you. But that doesn't mean I'm not here now. I miss my big brother and I tried to write, you never replied. I've called and texted but you rarely acknowledge them. I'm not saying you have to reply immediately. I get it now given Sadayo's condition and you're being busy with work. Plus we're adults and our lives are going to take precedent over us talking, but I want to talk to you and visit. I live only twenty miles away and I don't even see you. You haven't even invited me over, but you've had your friends over and you haven't invited Mom and Dad over either. Do you know how much that hurts?"

Akira had no rebuttal. In truth he'd been reluctant in inviting his family over. He had held a slight bitterness against them since Shido and he knew it. He'd tried not to let it leak into his relationship with them but it seemed it had. Even when he'd been welcomed home and they'd apologized, he always felt this slight resentment lingering in the back of his mind.

He'd always gotten along with his parents. They were loving, proud, and accepting people. His dad and mom both worked full time, but did their best to be there for him and made sure they rarely wanted for anything. But now Akira could see maybe that was why his resentment had remained. In truth he understood why they'd done it. Shido had massive political power and could have made their lives a living hell and he couldn't blame them for sending him away. He had no real place to go locally and the cops had haunted his every step, but the fact they had been able to send him away so quickly always felt a bit too convenient and out of everything that happened with them this little nugget had plagued him for years.

"I'm sorry." He lifted his foot and kicked the wall in frustration. "You're right and I'm sorry."

Eiko kept her distance as he kicked the wall.

"You're sorry about what?" Eiko was hesitant to approach but she still took a few cautious steps.

"About my pushing you away." Akira lowered his foot and rubbed his shoulder. "You aren't to blame for what happened."

"You aren't either." She walked up and gave him a strong hug. "You're a good guy, Akira. You have a good heart and sometimes a good heart can cause more trouble than it fixes."

"You're telling me." Akira returned the hug and they separated after a couple moments. "I haven't exactly been the best fiance over the past few weeks."

"Don't worry about that right now." Eiko gave him a pat on the cheek and smiled. "She's still upset but not as much as you think. She told me she's not going to make a big deal out of it right now and that you two will both take some time to relax before you talk. You both got a lot on your minds and besides I know a couple of people who are happy with the news. So you might want to focus on them instead."

Akira raised an eyebrow and asked, "Eiko, what did you do?"

"I didn't do or say anything." She crossed her heart and held up a hand in solidarity. "I honestly didn't know they'd be here but they said you had invited them so I just let them be."

As the realization hit him, Akira heard the gate creak open and he turned to see a woman in a red sweater, jeans, with thick glasses on her face. Her black hair was tied back in a neat bun and her brown eyes shined at the sight of him. She was squat had a nice round face but it wasn't hard to see where Eiko got most of her looks from and if one looked closely it wasn't hard to see that Akira took after her a bit as well.

"Akira! Eiko!"

Both of them braced themselves for the impending collision. Despite her stocky frame, Kurusu Sachiko was much faster and stronger than she looked. Within seconds she was on them, pulling them both into bone crushing hugs and laughing loudly. Akira couldn't understand how such a small woman could be so fast or strong as he fought the urge to vomit up his lungs.

"I missed you both so much!" Sachiko began smothering them with kisses and squeezing them even tighter.

"Put us down, Mom." Eiko was squirming violently to break free of her mother's grip and was gasping loudly. "I just saw you a few hours ago! You act like I haven't seen you in years!"

"Oh quit your complaining." Sachiko loosened her grip and let her kids go after giving them both long kisses on the cheek. "You both barely come home to visit so I think it's only fair you let me love on you a bit."

"I wouldn't mind it so much if you'd tone it down a bit." Eiko wiped where her mother had kissed and rolled her shoulder. "You're always so aggressive."

"Be quiet and head inside." Sachiko stepped behind her daughter and gave her a playful swat on the butt. "We're having a couple of hot pots for dinner and according to Sadayo there's going to be a few extra guests tonight and she said you're more than welcomed to stay."

Eiko gave her mother a kiss on the head and then smiled at her brother before asking, "Is it okay if I go in?"

Akira nodded and Eiko headed through the gate leaving Akira alone with their mother.

"Hi Mom." he said after a few tense moments of awkward silence.

Sachiko stepped forward and reached up to stroke his face. Her hands brushed his beard and then the bandage. Her fingers stroked the bags under his eyes and she shook her head.

"I will say that I do approve of the beard, but the rest of you…." she clapped his shoulders and sighed. "Akira you are in terrible shape."

"I know, Mom." He gave her a quick hug and squeezed her. "I'm sorry for not visiting more."

Sachiko returned the hug and Akira could hear her sniffling loudly.

"Come on, Mom." He gave her a gentle pat on the head. "It's not that bad. I just need to rest and I'm happy to see you."

Sachiko looked up, her eyes red from tears and wiped her nose on her apron. She smiled sadly and gave him another gentle pat on the cheek. "I'm happy to see you too. But we need to have a long talk young man." She took his left hand and fiddled with the rings. "A _very_ long talk."


	4. Chapter 4

Winter Troubles

A Persona 5 Fanfiction

Chapter 4

Rating: M

Pairing: Akira Kurusu and Sadayo Kawakami

Notes:

This story takes place six years after the events of the game and therefore physical descriptions and things may be a bit different from what we all remember.

I have introduced original characters (such allowing the people to have family members that may not exist in the game and the like) to help with the story and plot.

Also….I know about the laws in Japan regarding consent (as much as a non-lawyer can). Many people have….commented that I am mishandling it. I can see how that is but truth be told it's all been planned and this chapter will have one of the last few mentions of it. I am allowing characters to express themselves in ways that they may have with limited knowledge. Such as the version of Kawakami's parents I created, being overly judgmental, controlling, and occasionally misinterpreting the consent laws. I'm making them seem like human people and having actual flaws and not knowing everything. That's it...that's all it's meant to be and if you feel the need to talk to me...please do. PM me and approach me in an adult manner and I will be happy to talk with you about my views.

I'm sorry for those who've read this and I've turned off...that wasn't my intent I am just trying to create a story with human elements.

Also, I would like to say that this chapter was intended to be presented in this manner so if you notice similarities between this and "November Rain," well...like I said it's all intentional.

All things save for my OC's are owned by Atlus and I don't profit.

Chapter 4

From what his mother had said, Akira was expecting his house to be filled with people but instead, he was met with the low hum of the television and some banging noises in the kitchen. Taking his shoes off, Akira looked to the shoe rack and several pairs of shoes he didn't recognize resting on it. He recognized Makoto' shoes from last night, but the others he wasn't sure who they belonged to.

"Who all is here?" he asked as he set his shoes on the rack and hung his work back on one of the hooks on the wall.

"Makoto, Yusuke, you, me, Eiko, and your dad." Sachiko took a minute to blow into her hands and rubbed them to try and speed up their warming.

"Where's everybody else? I thought you said there was a bunch of people over?"

"Well, there will be," commented his mother as she began heading toward the kitchen. She took a moment to stare at the pictures on the wall. "I believe Futaba, Ryuji, Jun, and Haru were going to stop by as well."

"So it's another reunion." Akira stepped through the hallway and looked down at his mother. He could see she was hurting and Akira knew why. He wanted to explain but he just didn't know how.

"More like the house warming party you never seemed to have." Her smile was crestfallen, and Akira began to feel like the day was only going to get worse.

"I'm sorry about that." Akira stepped forward and gave her a tight hug. "I'm also sorry that I never told you sooner."

"Told me what, dear?" There was the slightest hint of confusion in his mother's voice, but Akira had the sense that she knew what he was referring to.

Pulling away, his hands resting on her shoulders, he said quietly, "Eiko told me you saw Sadayo."

"Oh." Sachiko's eyes began to glisten she dabbed at them with her sleeve, her bottom lip retreated into her mouth for a moment before she nodded. "She was rather hard to miss since she's the one who opened the door. There were a lot of things that were difficult to miss this morning." The bite in her voice told her that she wasn't just referring to Sadayo's pregnancy.

"Mom, if you'd just..."

"You have no idea how much it hurt to find out the way your father and I did." She sniffed and coughed loudly, her sleeve wiping at her eyes as she tried to regain her composure. "Do her parents know?"

"Yeah." Akira felt like he was seven years old again when he'd accidentally broken the toaster. "We went last month and did Sadayo tell you that she was in the hospital?"

"Oh yes." Sachiko gave a curt laugh and shook her head. "It would have been lovely to have found out then as well. But no, you tell Haru to tell everyone but us."

"Mom….."

"Akira," her voice was terse and her gaze stonily, "please do not throw gasoline on a fire. Let it die for a bit and we will talk about this after everyone leaves. Please?"

"All right." Akira nodded and knew from the pleading in her voice that she was ready to break. "For what it's worth, Mom, I am sorry. I've wanted to tell you since I found out. But time just…."

"Time slips away." Sachiko gave him a sad smile and nodded. "I know what how that can happen. I still can't help but see you as my little boy and yet you're a grown man who is about to be a father."

She pointed at the picture of them when he and Sadayo had come to visit them in his hometown. "I remember that visit like it was yesterday. You'd finally mustered up the courage to bring her home to visit us and both of you looked so nervous when you brought her in. I swear I thought you were about to pass out."

"Yeah, it's... it's been a hell of a journey." Akira saw her maternal love shine through her tear stained face when she spoke. Her eyes lit up and her smile was so big that he was certain her mouth would reach her ears, but once again, something in her voice set him on guard but did as she asked and did not press the issue.

Before he could get in another word a loud clang came from the kitchen and a deep voice shouted, "Son of a bitch!"

"What the hell is your father getting into now?" Sachiko turned on her heel, all distress slipping away as she stormed into the kitchen shouting, "Osamu! You better not be destroying the broth I've been working on!"

Chuckling, Akira followed suit and was bombarded with the scent of peppers, beef, salt, chicken, and so many other wonderful scents that his mouth began watering immediately. It had been a long time since he'd last had one of his mother's meals and his recently filled stomach began to growl. As he scanned the kitchen, he saw no sign of Makoto or Eiko, but instead found Yusuke standing at the counter happily chopping onions and other vegetables while Sachiko and her husband argued about his clumsiness.

"I swear to God, you are one of the clumsiest people I've ever had to deal with in the kitchen."

"Oh calm down, woman," quipped Kurusu Osamu as he allowed his wife to check him for cuts or burns. "All I did was drop a colander while looking for those spices you wanted. Didn't I Yusuke?"

"It's true, Sachiko-San." Yusuke smiled as he turned to Akira's parents. "All he did was move a couple of things and it fell right out of the cabinet and onto the floor."

"If the damn cabinet wasn't so small it wouldn't have happened. But honestly, who was the genius that decided to put spices inside a cabinet filled with cooking equipment?"

"That would have been me, Dad." Akira raised his hand in guilt and gave him a sheepish grin. "We kind of ran out of space after we bought too many pots and pans and I had to find someplace to put it."

"Well, it's still a dumb place to store something like that." Osamu walked forward and leveled himself with his son.

Although they were the same height, Osamu always had this tendency to seem like he was much taller than his son. Akira always thought it was because his father always had this lanky build to him, but also because the man had a tendency to stand straighter than his song. While Akira always had a muscular build, his father was lean and lithe with long hands and arms. He had the same unruly black hair as his son and the same eyes that always seemed to be hiding some sort of secret knowledge. Akira knew better than to try and look away. Ever since he was young, Osamu always maintained that his children were to always maintain direct eye contact with him when they spoke, and that conditioning still held true.

As he looked over his son, Osamu made the same examinations his mother but had remained quiet until he came to his son's beard. Sachiko and Yusuke were watching while under the guise of chopping vegetables. When his father's hand reached the bottom of his chin, Akira winced as he felt his dad tug at a small clump of hair.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Akira stepped back and rubbed his chin.

Osamu held his hand in front of his son's face and Akira saw that there were a couple of gray hairs in the small pile of hair and said with a laugh. "You're going gray, son."

Akira glared at the hair and then at his father and reached out, but instead of taking the hair back, he gave his father a gentle punch on the shoulder and laughed, "Ass."

Osamu returned the punch before pulling his oldest child to him and clapped him on the back in a tight hug. "Oh, it's so good to see you, Akira. From the way Sadayo and everyone else was talking I expected a walking corpse."

"I could be better," commented Akira as he and his father broke their hug. "Insurance company clients are always harping at me to take more jobs. The private business owners I work with are asking us to cut our rates and I've been toying with the idea of hiring a few full-timers given what happened last night. But that's gotta wait until mine and Futaba's vacation is over."

"How long do you have off?" Osamu motioned to the table and grabbed some hot water from the electronic boiler next to the sink while Akira took a seat at the table. As he got the water and tea, Osamu gave his wife a soft kiss on the cheek and whispered something in her ear that made Sachiko laugh and gently push him away.

"Will you quit being such a pervert and go deal with our son?"

When he returned, he prepped the tea leaves and let them steep before apologizing.

"It's fine, Dad." Akira blew on his tea before sipping and said, "I don't have an exact date, mostly due to the weather, but we'll most likely be returning to work after the new year."

"That's good." Osamu wandered off to grab a few tea crackers and said, "It'll give you and Sadayo a much-needed break from what she said."

"She's still got to run things for the school." Akira took one of the crackers on his dad's return and stared out the window. "And I have work to finish and plans to run, but it'll be more manageable that's for sure."

"But from what she said, most of that can be done from home right?" Sachiko had taken a break from showing Yusuke how to properly prepare the vegetables and joined them at the table.

"A lot of what she does can be done from here," Akira said after a moment's thought. "The school helped set it up that way in case she was put on bed rest. But there's still a few things that'll require her to go in from time to time. If the roads are clear, Ryuji will end up driving her if I'm running late or have to leave early."

"Are you sure he'll have the time?" Sachiko gave Osamu a concerned look as she grabbed a cracker. "Ryuji's got his hands full already."

"Jun said it was all right." Akira took another bite and then looked over his father's shoulder at Yusuke, who was still pondering how best to cut the vegetables and chuckled. "Yusuke it's a carrot. I don't think there's much more you can do to it."

"Leave him alone." Sachiko gave Akira a sour look and gently slapped him on the hand. "He has his reasons for my teaching him how to cook."

"Like what?" teased Akira as he watched Yusuke's face turn a bright red. "He's normally buying his dinner or Haru comes over and feeds him."

"I have to make amends," Yusuke said quietly as he set down his knife and vegetables. He washed his hands and wandered over to the table with his own cup of hot tea and sighed.

"Amends for what?" Akira handed Yusuke a cracker and gave him an inquisitive look. "You're one of the nicest people I know. What do you have to make amends for?'

"I would rather not divulge that information right now, Akira," Yusuke grumbled as he bit into the cracker.

"What are you talking about?" Osamu asked, bewildered as he looked between his wife, son, and Yusuke.

"Don't worry about it right now, dear." Sachiko gave her husband a gentle pat on the shoulder and said, "It's a personal reason and he's trying to figure out how best to execute his plan."

"I got you." He gave Yusuke a warm smile and said, "Well Yusuke-kun, you couldn't ask for a better teacher than my Sachiko."

"Yes, Akira told us a few times about your career as a kitchen manager and chef." Yusuke bowed in his seat and gave her a grateful smile. "I'm honored that you decided to take the time to show me some of the basics."

"You flatter me Yusuke." Sachiko's face turned bright red as she spoke. "But honestly I'm nothing special. I just know my way around a kitchen and how to get people to fall into place. Isn't that right, Akira?"

"You have no idea." Akira sipped at his tea and gave his mother a wink. "But seriously Yusuke, listen to whatever she tells you and I'm sure whatever you have planned will go fine."

"I hope so." Yusuke drained his tea and let out a heavy sigh. "Akira, would you mind if I borrowed your bath? I spent much of the morning painting the nursery and I'd like to relax a bit before dinner."

"No problem." Akira leaned back in his chair and stretched. "Do you need to me to show you where everything is?"

"Sadayo, told me this morning when I began my work. The paint is still wet in there and I had to leave the window open to help ventilate it, so please don't enter until I can confirm everything is ready." Yusuke stood up and bowed to the Kurusu's and thanked them for their hospitality. Before he reached the hallway, he turned around and said, "I'll make sure to compensate you for any overages on the heat bill."

Akira waved his friend's offer away and said, "Don't worry about it and just enjoy yourself."

Yusuke smiled and then bowed once more before heading up the stairs.

"He's a lovely young man." Sachiko smiled as she stood up and wandered back over to the stove to stir the broth. "I'm glad you found such good friends, Akira."

"So am I." Akira stared at his tea for a moment before drinking heavily from it.

"I know this isn't a possibility but if you and Sadayo don't work out, I wouldn't object if you brought a young man like him home."

"Don't think that'll ever happen but thanks for the blessing, Mom."

When he set his mug down, Akira could see that his father was prepared to say something, only to be stopped by the front door banging open and a loud chorus of voices and feet echoed from the entryway.

"So, then I think he's all done and go to burp him, only to have him vomit all over my shoulder," announced a tall brown-haired woman dressed in a heavy jacket, jeans, and snow boots. She had a solid stride and a kind face but had the look of a woman who'd barely been sleeping.

"Well, at least he didn't get any in your mouth like Akemi did to me before we left this morning." Ryuji made a face that looked like he'd just swallowed rotten lemonade at the thought.

"Well, that's what you get for holding her up above your head like that after feeding her." Jun rolled her eyes as she entered the kitchen she set her bags on the table and greeted Osamu before turning to Akira and jumping back a couple of inches and squealed when she recognized him.

"Oh my god! Akira!" Jun rushed forward and gave pulled Akira close to her chest. "It's so good to see you!"

As she hugged him, Akira could definitely tell Jun had gotten a bit softer in certain parts of her body. What was normally a taut stomach, now had a small amount of giving and it wasn't difficult to tell that her arms had gotten a bit larger too. As she let him go, he could see her face was definitely rounder since the last time he'd seen her in October. Her eyes were a gentle green and she had the smile of someone who was constantly happy despite the bags under her eyes.

"It's good to see you too, Jun." Akira squeezed her hands and smiled. "You're looking good."

"I feel like shit, to be honest." Jun pointed at Ryuji who was complaining loudly about having to carry both car seats into the living room as one of the babies began to fuss. "It's always something with those two. One sleeps, the other is up. One's needs a change the other is hungry. It's a constant back and forth and we haven't been sleeping that much. But they're happy and Ryuji is happy even though he's constantly bitching about not sleeping enough."

"Just wait until they start walking." Sachiko had left her pots to welcome everyone into the house with a hug. "You'll really be losing your head then. Akira had this habit of rifling through our drawers and Eiko had some weird fascination with the toiletries"

"Don't remind me." Jun returned the hug. "It's so good to see you Sachiko-San. Eiko told us you were here."

"Where is my daughter?" asked Sachiko as they separated. "She came in a while ago and asked Makoto to go outside with her and I haven't seen them since."

"They're sparring," announced Futaba as she arrived with five more bags of groceries. "Makoto is showing Eiko some Aikido moves and Eiko's eating snow like crazy."

"More like snow and dirt," retorted Eiko as she stepped in from the cold. Her face and shirt were covered in mud and snow as she joined the cacophony of laughter and talk. "Akira can I use your tub?"

"Yusuke's in it right now, but the spare room has a sink."

"That'll work." Eiko disappeared into the hallway and growled, "I swear that girl is a demon in disguise!"

"I could have told you that," said Ann as she walked in with what Akira hoped were the rest of the bags. "Makoto's been studying Aikido for years and she's been given police training. She's probably the strongest out of our group. Akira," Ann turned to her old friend and pointed toward the door, "can you please grab the rest of the groceries from the front door?"

Climbing to his feet, Akira rushed to the door and grabbed the bags. Eiko had disappeared into the spare bathroom to tend to her wounds while Makoto and Sadayo remained suspiciously absent. While he wanted to go and find his fiancee, Akira remained to help with sorting out the food with Ann and Jun. As they sorted through various meats and vegetables he heard Futaba and Ryuji whispering excitedly at the contents of Futaba's bag.

What do you have in the bag, Futaba?" asked Akira when he saw a flash of green emerge from the bag.

"I have no idea as to what you are referring to." Futaba crammed the green item into the bag and picked up the baby wearing the green hat. "It's a gift for little Kaiju here and you're just going to have to wait and see."

"His name's Kaito." Jun had appeared behind Akira and shot a glare at Futaba. "I told you that's not going to be his nickname, Futaba."

"But he likes it!" Futaba turned the baby around and rubbed her nose against his and in a baby voice asked, "Don't you? You're my baby Kaiju."

The pink-faced baby just stared at his surrogate aunt and absent-mindedly drooled in response.

"See!" Futaba rests the baby against her shoulder and smiled broadly. "The nickname is Kaito approved!"

"I give up," whispered Jun raising her hands in the air. "She's impossible."

"You're just now figuring that out?" Jun gently smacked Akira with her towel and stormed off to help with prepping the pots and stove for the meal. When everyone was settled, he noticed the absence of Sadayo and Makoto and asked if anyone had seen them.

"They're outside talking with Haru." Eiko appeared from the bathroom, her hair was soaked and she'd changed into some sweats and a tee-shirt. She looked a little worse for wear but slightly refreshed.

"When did Haru get here?"

"She met us outside the store on our way back," Answered Ryuji as he played around with Akemi. "She helped cover some of the groceries, but was looking really nervous about something."

"Do you happen to know what?" Akira could see that everyone was worried but didn't want to say.

"I honestly don't know." Eiko began running a towel through her hair and shrugged. "She asked to speak to Makoto and Sadayo and asked us to head inside."

"Got ya." Akira chewed on his lower lip and then looked outside. He was worried about the weather report he'd heard from the bar that morning. The news had said that the temperature was supposed to drop and worry began to creep over him. While he wanted to give them their privacy, his concern won over and he headed to the door and grabbed his shoes and jacket and headed out into the slowly chilling evening.

When he stepped outside, the cold stung his face and he crammed his hands into his pockets after shutting the door. He turned and began checking the snow for any footfalls but the area around the front door was so distraught that he couldn't tell which footsteps belonged to whom. Wishing he still had his second sight, Akira followed the footsteps toward the front of the yard and when he reached the wall found no one standing there and then turned to follow the slightly fresher steps toward the side of the house.

When he passed the garbage cans he heard the familiar voices of his friends and fiancee standing next to one of the windows. Sadayo was dressed in a long blue heavy winter coat and a red scarf and hat, she looked frustrated and in pain, but when he saw Haru, Akira understood why. The normally cheery Haru looked as drained as he'd ever seen her. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes, while clean looked thrown together and Akira noticed what looked like a yellowing bruise on her cheek.

"And you're sure it wasn't intentional?" Makoto's police voice had kicked in, her arms crossed, and eyes narrowed. "I mean I trust both of you implicitly, but we all know what can happen when we get lost in our heads."

"It wasn't intentional." Haru's voice was little more than a whisper and her hand caressed her cheek. "We were in bed and I woke to him thrashing about in bed and I tried to calm him." Her voice grew louder and more distraught as she said, "But when I touched him, his arm flew back and his elbow caught me in the cheek."

"And that's when he woke up?" Sadayo was speaking now and her hand reached for Haru's shoulder and squeezed it.

"Yes." Haru looked relieved at finally being able to get this off her chest but still nervous. "He apologized and got ice and everything but since then...he's been avoiding me. He canceled our dinner a few nights ago and he hasn't returned my calls and has been keeping his door latched. I want to come in but I'm worried about what kind of state it'll put him in."

"Do you want to go home?" Makoto dropped her hands and took one of Haru's. "I know he's okay enough to work on the nursery, but it makes sense as to why he's been so quiet lately."

"I want to see him." Haru's voice was cracking and Akira could see that she was shaking. "I want him to know that I forgive him and I don't blame him for what happened."

"Okay." Sadayo nodded and looked at Makoto. "We'll let her stay and if things get out of hand we'll intervene. I don't think anything will happen. I mean it's..."

As Sadayo was about to speak, Akira nearly slipped on a patch of ice and caught himself on the garbage can. All three women jumped and let out loud breaths of relief, Haru even managed a chuckle as Akira began pulling himself to his feet.

"Are you okay, Akira?" Haru began walking toward him, her voice and eyes were still nervous, but there was a genuine concern for her struggling friend.

"I'm fine." He finally got his footing and rested against the garbage can and gave her a sheepish grin. "I didn't hear everything but I heard enough. Are you okay?"

"I hope so." Haru looked at the wall and let out a deep sigh. "It seems all of us have been having a rough few weeks." She poked his bandage and gave smiled. "I guess it's to be expected around this time of year."

"Seems that way." Akira noticed that Haru's cheeks and ears were now a bright red and tilted his head toward the house. "I don't know what's going on, but there are a lot of people inside waiting to see you. Why don't you go in and get warmed up and if you feel you need to call your driver you can. But I'd appreciate it if you would stay for dinner."

"I'll definitely think about it." Haru gave him her trademarked giggle and looked at Makoto and gave her a wave. "Makoto! Would you please come in with me?"

Makoto nodded and gave Sadayo a gentle pat on the shoulder and left. As she passed Akira she whispered, "I'm glad to see you're okay," before disappearing around the corner with Haru.

When they were gone, Akira tested his footing and wandered over toward Sadayo and looked up at the sky, his feet kicking up small clouds of snow.

She laughed and kicked some of the snow that landed on her shoe back at him and reached out for his hand. He took hers and pulled her toward him. She came with no resistance and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her forehead nuzzled his chest and she gave him a warm smile as she said, "How're you feeling, my love?"

"I'm doing a bit better. I finally got some decent sleep but that got cut short." Akira gazed down at her and kissed her forehead. He was happy to see she was at least smiling, considering how they parted and with the appearance of his parents. "How've you been holding up?"

"Well," Sadayo took a deep breath, some her happiness faded, but she did her best to maintain her positivity, "It wasn't fun waking up to find your parents standing on our doorstep."

"I believe it." Akira scratched the back of his neck and grumbled. "I can't believe we forgot that they were coming over today. I am so sorry you had to handle that alone."

"We both screwed up." Sadayo gave him a gentle squeeze and he could see a gloom cloud her face. "I've never seen them both so happy and disappointed at the same time. I expect my parents to look like that, but yours….yours always seemed to be ready to accept just about anything that could get thrown at them."

"They can handle a lot." Akira rubbed a bit of snot from his nose and sniffed. "But I think the shock of seeing you carrying our kid was a bit much."

"They weren't happy when I told them my parents found out before them." Sadayo sighed, a large puff of warm steam exiting her mouth. "I swear your mother was just about ready to have a nervous breakdown when I told her."

"How did they handle it?" Akira had been curious about it ever since Eiko let it slip that their parents were at his house.

"Your mother's been crying off and on all day." Sadayo pulled away and began pacing slowly in front of him. "It was only shortly before we left that she'd finally managed to keep herself together."

"What about my dad?" Akira's stomach was in knots as he thought about his mother and father having to deal with the comprehension that their son and future daughter-in-law had been lying to them for months.

"He's been very quiet." Sadayo wiped some of the snow from her forehead and shrugged. "He was so much like my dad it was scary. He just gave me a hug and kept quiet while I told them about when we found out and then went about helping your mom with some of the mess that was left over from last night. I tried to get them to stop, but he just said that they needed to keep busy."

"That sounds like them." Akira stepped away from the house and lifted her chin and kissed her softly. "I am so sorry you had to do this all by yourself."

"Aki-kun." Her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him, his face was warm from his beard and the blush he always got when she used her nickname for him. It was the first time she'd truly kissed him since his beard had fully grown in. Lately, they'd only been giving each other light kisses in passing as they left the house on the few days they were home together. She enjoyed the feeling of his beard on her face. It was soft, almost like a fleece blanket, and she wanted to stay lost in it but knew they needed to talk.

Pulling back, she saw that his mouth was still partially opened and his eyes were close. She laughed and gave his cheek a gentle pat before saying, "Akira I'm not mad at you for being gone. We both forgot they were coming and you were at the clinic. There was no way you could have been here when they arrived unless they let you out well before they knew you were safe."

Regaining his composure, Akira rested his forehead against hers and wrapped his arms around her waist. "What about everything else?"

She squeezed his neck and said, "I'm still upset you felt the need to go that far."

"I just don't want you to think we're cursed." He pulled her tight against him and buried his face in her hair.

"Kind of hard not to with the evidence we have built against us." She nuzzled his beard and kissed his neck, her nose picking up the scent of charcoal. "We seem to be developing a pattern over the past couple of months and I don't want it to continue."

"Hard to argue with that." Akira leaned back and rested a hand on her cheek. Sadayo jumped at the shock of his freezing skin for the first time realized his hands were bare.

"What the hell is the matter with you!?" She immediately began taking her gloves off and shoving them on his bright red hands. "You're going to get frostbite! Seriously, how are you so irresponsible!?"

"It wasn't on purpose." Akira took the gloves off and put them back on Sadayo's hands. When they were back on, he kissed her fingers and then her forehead. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay and I forgot to put mine on."

"Akira." Tears were pouring down her cheeks and she gently slammed her fists against his chest. "What did I just say about not breaking the pattern?"

"Okay, Okay," He shoved his left hand into his pocket since the cold metal was beginning to hurt his finger and reached out with his right. "Come on. Let's get inside and warm up, dinner should be ready soon anyway and you look like you need a break."

Sadayo huffed and glared down at his cold, red hand and took it. With her free hand, she wiped her tears but made sure her other hand was moving, hoping to return some warmth to it before they got in and as he led the way said, "I've changed my mind. I'm still mad at you and you're going to spend the rest of the night making it up to me."

Akira chuckled and gave her a smile before bowing his head and saying, "Your wish is my command."


	5. Chapter 5

Winter Troubles

A Persona 5 Fanfiction

Rating: M

Pairing: Akira Kurusu and Sadayo Kawakami

Notes:

This story takes place six years after the events of the game and therefore physical descriptions and things may be a bit different from what we all remember.

I have introduced original characters (such allowing the people to have family members that may not exist in the game and the like) to help with the story and plot.

Also….I know about the laws in Japan regarding consent (as much as a non-lawyer can). Many people have….commented that I am mishandling it. I can see how that is but truth be told it's all been planned and this chapter will have one of the last few mentions of it. I am allowing characters to express themselves in ways that they may have with limited knowledge. Such as the version of Kawakami's parents I created, being overly judgmental, controlling, and occasionally misinterpreting the consent laws. I'm making them seem like human people and having actual flaws and not knowing everything. That's it...that's all it's meant to be and if you feel the need to talk to me...please do. PM me and approach me in an adult manner and I will be happy to talk with you about my views.

I'm sorry for those who've read this and I've turned off...that wasn't my intent I am just trying to create a story with human elements.

Also, I would like to say that this chapter was intended to be presented in this manner so if you notice similarities between this and "November Rain," well...like I said it's all intentional.

All things save for my OC's are owned by Atlus and I don't profit.

Chapter 5

When they entered the house, Akira felt his hands begin to sting. Someone had turned up the heat and while he worried a bit about the heat bill, Akira was glad to finally get some feeling back into his hands. Cupping his mouth, he began blowing air into them, feeling a slight tingling in them and flexed his fingers groaning at the dull ache.

"That's what you get for not wearing gloves." Sadayo gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, a smug smirk on her face as she pulled off her thick leather gloves and placed her warm hands on his face.

Akira closed his eyes at the touch of her hands, savoring their warmth and desperately fighting the urge to take her upstairs and disappear into their bed for a few hours. Common sense, however, got the better of him in the form of laughter and shouts from the kitchen and living room. Opening his eyes, Akira got an impish grin on his face and reached out, his hands slipping under Sadayo's shirt and placed his hand on her round, warm belly.

"Damn it, Akira!" Sadayo jumped and pulled his hands away from her stomach and gave him a gentle slap on the arm. "What is it with you today?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Eiko came around the corner, a beer bottle in one hand and a rice ball in the other.

"Your brother is being an ass." Sadayo gave Akira a contemptuous glare and sat down on the stairs and began taking her shoes off.

"What'd he do now?" Eiko took a swig of beer, a deep scowl on her face.

"This!" Akira lunged forward and placed his hands on his sister's face.

"You son of a..." Eiko darted backward at the sudden cold and dropped her rice ball and almost dropped her beer. "You dick," her foot darted out and barely missed his shin.

"Come here!" Akira held his hands out and began shuffling towards his sister. She was faster than him but the cramped quarters made it difficult for her to dodge. After a close call, she managed to duck beneath his icy grip, Eiko managed to pick up her rice ball and ran into the kitchen, nearly knocking over Ann who had Morgana perched on her shoulder eating some raw fish happily until he nearly fell off his ride.

"OW! Morgana! Eiko!" Ann stopped as Morgana cautiously climbed back up into a sitting position, wincing at the cat's attempt to keep from scratching her.

"Sorry, Ann!" Eiko's voice came from around the corner as their mother scolded her. "Akira's hands are frozen and he's trying to touch me!"

"Of course he is." Ann and Morgana shot Akira a contemptuous glare.

"Seriously, Akira?" Morgana's nose lifted as he spoke. "You need to be more mature, like me!"

"Right." Akira headed toward the cat and poked it in the nose. "At least I can feed and cook for myself."

"At least I can fix a car engine."

"He's got you there," laughed Ann as she fed Morgana another piece of fish.

Akira wanted to retort, but his parents and sister weren't exactly up to date on why exactly everyone in the group talked to Morgana like he was an average person. Deciding to bite his tongue, Akira flicked the cat in the nose and turned back to check on Sadayo as Morgana whined incessantly about how mean Akira was being.

Upon arriving, he found Sadayo still sitting on the steps, her eyes red as she looked down at her feet in frustration. Looking down, Akira noticed that they had yet to be untied and asked, "What's the matter?"

"I can't reach them." Sadayo attempted to bend down but was kept from reaching her shoes thanks to her growing belly. "I had trouble getting them on earlier but had to ask your dad for help and I thought I could get them off, but I can't." Her voice was steady, but tears began to roll down her cheeks again. She wiped at them in frustration and growled, "Stupid hormones."

"It's alright." Akira bent down and began undoing her shoes for her. "I don't mind doing the opposite of what princes do in fairy tales."

"So you're my prince coming to save me on a white horse?" Sadayo chuckled and sniffed as she tried to stop her tears.

"If you want me to be." He gave the shoe a small tug and with some resistance, it popped off. Sadayo hissed loudly and Akira began checking her foot. He wasn't an expert, but he could definitely tell her ankles and foot had swollen through her socks and compression leggings. On instinct his hand began slowly working through her foot, finding the small knots and began working them. He watched as her eyes closed, her teeth gritted as he found one particularly nasty one in the arch of her foot.

"Did you make sure to sit while you were out?" Akira could see she was trying her hardest not to let him see how much pain she was in.

"I did." Sadayo's voice was more of a grunt as her head fell against the wall. "I'm wearing my special shoes, the compression leggings, and the socks and I'm still bloating like a walrus."

"You're not a walrus." A smile formed on Akira's lips as he moved to her other foot. "You're pregnant and you're beautiful."

"Whose fault is it that I'm pregnant?" Sadayo stuck her tongue out at him and rubbed her stomach.

"Yours and mine." Akira began slowly moving up to her ankle and calf. "I mean I've read that scientists are figuring out how to make it so only one person is involved, then you'd only have yourself to blame if you got pregnant."

"Where's the fun in that," Sadayo laughed as Akira continued his massaging. "I kind of like having you at my beck and call."

"I see." Akira crawled up and met her gaze, his lips closing in on hers. Her face from the warmth of the house and his touch, but also at the possibility of them getting caught. Reaching up, he brushed some hair from her face. He didn't kiss her, but he was so close that his lips barely brushed her as he whispered, "I rather enjoy it as well. Maybe later you can take full advantage of it after everybody leaves?"

Sadayo's face and ears turned a bright red at this offer. It had been a long time since she'd fully taken control in the bedroom. Not since they'd first become physically intimate had she really given him any clear instructions. Sure she'd initiated and on occasion had told him what she wanted him to do, but after so long they both were so familiar with one another that they just ran on instinct; save for those nights when they'd slipped into their master and servant roles. At the mere thought of having him do what she told him, a warmth spread throughout her body and Sadayo felt her heart begin to pound. She gulped heavily, her breath shallow as she looked into his eyes.

The dark pools of calm and collected thought were now glistening with a willing obedience she'd seen only a handful of times. She felt herself getting lost again, her body slowly shifting from the stairs toward him, ready to give into her desires and ignore everyone around them.

"Akira," she leaned in, her hands clutching at his shirt, ready to lead him up the stairs when her concentration was broken by the sound of footsteps coming down the upstairs hallway.

"Damn it," Akira sighed and gave her a quick kiss just as Yusuke appeared at the top of the stairs. "Later," he whispered as Yusuke reached the top of the stairs and gasped in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have interrupted...again." Yusuke's face was a bright red at having interrupted yet another intimate moment between them.

"It's okay, Yusuke." Akira stood up and helped Sadayo to her feet. "You feeling any better?"

"Quite a bit actually." Yusuke headed down the stairs and gave Sadayo an embarrassed smile. "I'm glad to see you returned safely. Did you have a good time out?"

"Yes, I did." Sadayo smiled and gave him a wink. "We should be eating soon if you want to join us."

"I'd be glad to. I haven't eaten much the past few days and some porridge would definitely hit the…," at that moment several loud laughs rang through the house. "Is everyone here with you?"

"Yes, everyone is here." Sadayo could see Yusuke's fight or flight instinct beginning to kick in and decided to intervene. "It'll be okay."

"What do you mean?" Yusuke's face shifted from frightened to stone when he looked at her.

"She told me, Yusuke." Sadayo gave his arm a gentle pat and shrugged. "She talked to me and Makoto and she wants to talk to you. She's scared and she wants to talk."

"I can't." Yusuke ran a hand through his damp hair and shook his head. "I hurt her."

"Yusuke," Sadayo took his hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. "She doesn't hate you or blame you. She knows it wasn't intentional and wants to see you. You were having a nightmare and thrashing around you couldn't control yourself."

"That's not an excuse for hurting her." Yusuke was breathing heavily, his hand freed itself from Sadayo's grip.

"In this case it is," Akira spoke up this time, finally understanding where the bruise on Haru's face came from. "She doesn't blame you. She's not making excuses for your violence and saying it's her fault. We all know Haru is a strong enough person now that if she blamed you she wouldn't be trying this hard to talk to you and of everyone who knows you're the only one who won't face the facts."

"How do you know about all this?" Yusuke's glare shifted to mild shock at Akira's knowledge. "I never told you anything about what happened."

"I overheard the tail end of their conversation." Akira pointed at Sadayo as he spoke. "Add in your little comment about making amends and what Sadayo just said it all adds up. Besides if you didn't want to talk to her you wouldn't have asked for my mother's help in cooking."

"Well yes, that is one reason I asked for your mother's help." Yusuke gave Akira the slightest hint of his usual embarrassed smile. "But I also wish to learn to cook better meals for myself and for her when..."

"Then get in there and talk to her." Sadayo's face was inches from Yusuke's causing the artist to nearly trip over his feet and into the stairs. "Quit making excuses and talk to her or I'll find a way to lock you two in a room until you sort this out."

"Okay." Yusuke gave Akira a concerned glance and received a look that told Yusuke it'd be best to humor her for a while. "I shall make an attempt to talk to her this evening."

"That's all I ask." Sadayo seemed to calm down at this and gave him a soft smile.

"Sure." Yusuke gave her a slight bow and proceeded to move his way past them saying, "If you'll excuse me, I think I'd like to get something light in my stomach if we are to imbibe spirits this evening."

When he was gone, Sadayo let out a low grumble and asked, "Do you think I was a bit hard on him?"

"I think you were." Akira rubbed the small of her back and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "But sometimes Yusuke needs a bit more prodding than others. Just give him some space before you talk to him."

"Yeah." Sadayo felt a wave of relief spread through her back as Akira massaged her. Feeling her urges from earlier begin to well up, Sadayo stepped away and took his hand. "Come on, I'm getting hungry."

Entering the kitchen, they found everyone crowded around the center island, fighting over scraps of meat and spoons of rice while Osamu and Sachiko attempted to maintain control. Everyone seemed to be attacking each pot, grabbing whatever bits they could until Sachiko finally had enough.

"That's it! Everyone form a line!"

Despite their ages, almost everyone fell in line at Sachiko's command as Osamu began laughing quietly to himself and Sadayo and Akira suppressed their own laughs.

"There's plenty of food to go around, that's why I made so much broth." She pointed her chopstick at the bowl on the lower right burner and said, "This one is for meats like beef and pork, the other is for fish. If you can't handle waiting your turn then you can wait in the living room while everyone else eats, am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," they all voiced in unison, including Sadayo and Akira.

"Good. Akira," she turned to her son her brow furrowed, "do you have a portable stove or something we can use so these beasts aren't crowding the stove?"

"Give me a minute and I could find the one Sojiro gave me as a housewarming gift." He turned on his heel and wandered off toward the storage closet and began digging through some crumpled boxes until he found the old well used stove. Setting it aside, he found the small propane tank that went with it and headed into the kitchen and set it up on the island.

"Thank you dear. "Please take this one," she pointed at the one for she'd designated for fish, "and set it up here and add in these vegetables. The meat and all the other vegetables will go on the stove." She turned to the large mass of adults who were chomping at the bit to get at the meal. "If you prefer fish you will go there. Meat will be cooked here. You will go two at a time and we have plenty of food for multiple servings but that doesn't mean hog everything." She shot a glare at Futaba, Ryuji, and Yusuke and all three stiffened instantly.

"Sadayo and Jun if you would please tell me what you'd like I can begin prepping yours."

"I think I can manage…," began Sadayo only to have Sachiko point at the recliner.

"You will go and sit down." Sachiko's motherly voice had dropped and now the kitchen manager had taken control. "You were out all afternoon and you need to rest; Akira and I will handle the food for you. Ryuji you can help me with Jun's first before you get your own; same with you Akira."

Sadayo sighed in defeat and nodded. She gave Sachiko her request for some pork and chicken before shuffling into the living room. There was a dull thud and as Ryuji and Akira helped Sachiko with their spouse's food, they could hear the gentle snickers of the crowd as the two men's stomachs grumbled. Once those servings were done, the line proceeded accordingly and everyone was fed and that's when the noise picked back up.

Without hesitation, Osamu broke out a few bottles of beer and began pouring glasses for all except Ryuji, Jun, Sachiko, Akira, and Sadayo. Yusuke and Haru both took a glass but sipped gingerly. While both of them gave the air of enjoying the celebration, both looked slightly uncomfortable around each other. Those in the know knew it mostly dealt with what had happened between them, but the constant gaze of Akira, Makoto, and Sadayo didn't help the situation.

Despite this small hurdle, the meal went off without a hitch. Sachiko had calmed down now that everyone had begun eating and with their belly's filling with good food and beer they became livelier. Ann had begun telling them stories about an audition for a play she'd had a couple weeks prior and was excited that the director had wanted to see her back about a possible audition.

"With your crappy acting skills, I'm surprised the lady didn't die," laughed Ryuji over his glass soda.

"Oh screw you, Ryuji!" Ann had picked up the remains of a dumpling and chucked it at his head, hitting him just above his eye. "I've gotten a lot better at acting since you guys had me sneak into Yusuke's house!"

"Yeah well, Yusuke is so dense at times I'm surprised he fell for it." Ryuji picked up the dumpling piece off his plate and ate it making Ann groan in disgust. "Remember that time he bought those two lobsters at the beach?"

"They were aesthetically perfect lobsters and I will defend that decision to my grave." Yusuke took a large bite of fish and snorted at Ryuji. "I'll have you know that my purchase of them inspired a piece I recently sold for a rather nice sum of money to a private collector."

"It took you almost eight years to finish a painting inspired by lobsters," Osamu hiccuped as he reached for a dumpling. "Talk about a long-term investment."

"It was, I'll admit, a foolish purchase at the time." Yusuke sat up a little straighter as he spoke, his confidence growing. "But when you're able to sell the picture it inspires for more than some people make in a year, then I'd say the investment was well worth the debt I placed myself in."

"Oh bite me." Ryuji downed his soda and chomped down on a large piece of pork. "I may not make as much as you do but I'm still doing pretty good all things considered."

"You make a valid point." Yusuke set his bowl down and reached for a dumpling of his own and began putting some more fish into the broth. "You've definitely come a long way since that loud-mouthed uncultured brat I met on the street."

"Aww, thanks, man." Ryuji swallowed a large bite of meat and wiped his mouth on his sleeve making Yusuke roll his eyes. "You're not so bad for being a bit of an elitist prick yourself."

"I shall take that as a compliment." Yusuke took his fish from the pot and served up a few more vegetables to Sachiko when she asked and asked, "Would you mind if I got this recipe, Sachiko-san? It's much better than the instant packets we used when we first shared a meal like this."

"Of course." Sachiko took her vegetables and blushed. "It's always nice to hear someone appreciates the effort you put in."

"Thank you, Sachiko-san and Osamu-san," rang out the voices of all the Phantom Thieves, save for Akira and Eiko who stopped after, "thank you".

"Now they're well behaved." Osamu downed the rest of his beer and poured himself another, offering some to Ann, and anyone who looked like they'd like a top off.

"Thanks, Osamu-san." Makoto took her beer and sipped deeply. Her face was already turning a bright red and she was smiling broadly. "I finally got my work schedule! I start next week on the day shift in plain clothes!"

The entire room cheered and applauded as Makoto bowed, spilling some of her beer and apologizing profusely as she tried to use a towel to clean up the mess; only to spill more beer in the attempt.

"How much have you had to drink," laughed Akira as he helped her sit at the table and began to clean up the beer.

"I've been drinking on and off for a bit now." Makoto fingered the rim of her nearly empty glass and nibbled on some of the vegetables that were still in her bowl. "I don't know how much I've had though. Your dad buys good beer."

"Thanks, Makoto-chan." Osamu's ears had a small tinge to them, but he was nowhere near as intoxicated as Makoto. "I've always prided myself on knowing how to enjoy the good things in life."

"Sure you have, dear." Sachiko gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder as she headed to the sink.

"Hey!" Osamu poured a bit more beer for Haru and Yusuke, both of whom seemed to have begun to relax a bit now that three pairs of eyes weren't constantly on them. "I take offense to that!"

"Calm down." Sachiko wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I know you know how to class it up when you need to."

"Damn right I do." He gave his wife a kiss and then hiccuped slightly. "I think I've had a bit much."

"Here," Sachiko handed him some of the leftover sides. "Eat this and I'll get you some water."

"Makoto," Osamu was now speaking through a mostly swallowed bit of rice ball, "what department you starting in."

"I'm starting in the Tokyo Met for now to cut my teeth. But I want to try and get to the National Agency in the next ten years at most…."

As Makoto began explaining everything the rest of them had heard a dozen times over to his parents, Akira headed into the living room where Ann and Sadayo were playing with the babies while Ryuji and Futaba played a video game. Jun sat on the couch with Eiko discussing Eiko's choice to not pursue athletics. Settling next to Ann on the love seat, Akira looked between the babies and noticed that Kaito was dressed in a green pterodactyl outfit while Akemi was dressed in what looked like a purple stegosaurus outfit.

"Futaba….did you make them..."

"Damn right I did!" The hacker turned to look at her business partner and smiled. "Gotta get them hooked while they're young. Press the right eye on Akemi's outfit."

Akira reached over to Sadayo and squeezed the right eye and chuckled as the eyes lit up and the small speaker emitted a roar.

"I made them big so when they crawl and walk we can let them play around and put in special effects, but Jun said no."

"They're children Futaba," Jun snorted as Futaba made a face at her. "Not dolls."

"I know they aren't dolls." Futaba rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I just want them to be able to have fun. I'm trying to be the fun aunt, not the wet-blanket mom."

"Easy Futaba." Ryuji cautioned as if feeling the rage beginning to emanate from his wife. "I want them to have fun too, but unless we both say yes to it, it ain't happening."

"When did you get so responsible," snorted Futaba as she once again killed Ryuji's character.

"Gotta grow up sometime." Ryuji looked over at Jun who blew him a loving kiss and returned to her conversation.

"Uhh, Jun, Ryuji….," Ann's lip curled and she held out Kaito, looking like she was about to vomit. "I think Kaito's got a full load in his diaper."

"Ooof," groaned Sadayo waving the air in front of her nose, "I think Akemi does too."

"Good luck." Jun tossed both Akira and Sadayo each a diaper and the wipes between them.

"The hell are you talking about?" Akira felt his eyes sting as Ann handed him Kaito before running over to the couch between his sister and friend.

"You two need the practice," Ryuji chuckled loudly as he paused the game. "Those dolls they give you in classes don't prepare you for the real thing." He gave Akira and Sadayo a false salute. "Seriously don't rush it or you're going to regret it."

Akira gave Sadayo a nervous glance and she shrugged, "They make a valid point."

"All right, Kaito." Akira gently turned the baby around and stared at him. His eyes were a deep brown and he had a squashed pink face that just stared dully at his father's friend. He had somehow ended up with the sleeve of his outfit in his mouth and was drooling into it as he watched Akira with indifference. "This is new for both of us so I don't want you to freak out. If you can do that for me this'll go smoothly. Do we have a deal?"

The baby hiccuped and continued to chew on his sleeve.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"It's a diaper, Akira." Sadayo laughed as both she and her fiance supported the babies and laid them on the ground. "He doesn't know what he's doing. Right now all they know is that they need to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom."

"I think the bathroom is the priority." Akira's hand shut the diaper again and looked like Ann had when she first smelt what Kaito had unleashed. "Whatever this kid left in here is not human."

"Quit being such a wuss." Sadayo smiled and began to undo the diaper and when it was opened it was Akira's turn to smile.

"Now who's being the wuss," joked Akira as he saw Sadayo's face drop at the contents.

"Well," she gulped as her hands trembled for the new diaper and wipes, "as they say. No guts, no glory."

Not wanting to be outdone, Akira followed suit. He felt a slight curdling in the back of his throat and followed suit. While they worked, everyone around them laughed as both expecting parents struggled through their initial changing. Both Akira and Sadayo had to look away at times and they were certain that the babies were laughing internally. Neither Akemi or Kaito fussed at their exposure, instead simply kicking and squirming as much as they could, making everything more difficult and slightly messier.

"Oh come on, Akemi. Can you please be good for Aunty?" Sadayo was beginning to struggle as Akemi began kicking a bit more violently.

Akira got lucky as Kaito's legs were a little less vicious, but when the baby's arms began to flail they made his body rock from side to side.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Akira was lucky to stop Kaito from rolling onto his stomach and into his old diaper and breathed in relief. "Did you see that Sadayo?"

When he looked up, Sadayo had a look of absolute horror on her face and Akira couldn't help but choke back laughter at a stain of green on her hand.

"Stop laughing," Sadayo squeaked as she took a wipe and cleaned her hand. Sadayo groaned in disgust as she cleaned it off.

While everyone was busy with their own talks, Eiko, Jun, and Ann saw the entire thing happen and were all laughing at Sadayo's misfortune. Though, Eiko had a bit more sympathy for her friend and said, "Don't feel too bad, you're doing great. Ryuji once didn't pay attention and accidentally put his whole palm in one once."

"I wouldn't have if you'd told me the diaper was right there." Ryuji paused the game again and turned his head along with Futaba and added, "It's only going to get worse guys. Kids are gross and this is just the first step."

"It's a pain in the ass I'll give you that." Akira lifted a freshly changed and dressed Kaito. "But it wasn't too bad.' Akira gently raised and lowered the baby and smiled when the Kaito kicked his legs. "You're pretty cute kids."

"They are." Sadayo began bouncing Akemi in a similar style for a moment before holding the baby against her chest. "They are a lot grosser than the classes led on but I feel better now that I...ow….ow….ow...ow!"

"Sadayo?!" Akira handed Kaito over to a whiny Futaba and rushed over to the recliner. "What's the matter?"

Sadayo had a look of absolute horror on her face and Akira could see why. What he thought was a relaxed baby ended up being a desperately hungry one.

"I think she needs her mother," squeaked Sadayo as Akemi's mouth and hands kept up their searching.

"Uhh...Jun," Akira gave his friend a nervous smile and pointed at the baby, "I think Akemi's hungry."

"Got ya. I take it the guest room is free?" Akira nodded and Jun took the baby upstairs, shouting at Ryuji to bring Kaito with him.

After they were gone, Sadayo calmed down and the room returned to its normal loud volume. The rest of the night went off without a hitch and the food was all nearly devoured in the following hours. Finally, at about ten o'clock everyone began packing up, save for an inebriated Makoto who passed out on the couch.

"Make sure she has plenty of water," said Ann as she finished buttoning up.

"She's in good hands." Sadayo gave Ann a hug and said, "Thanks for everything."

"It's no big deal." Ann gave Akira a hug as well and heard Futaba and the others say that their cabs were waiting. "Thanks for everything!"

Ann and the other disappeared into the night leaving Akira and Sadayo to close up and turn to clean up the mess. It wasn't as bad as they'd expected given the number of people who had helped clean, but there was still a large bag of garbage that needed to be taken out. Saying he would get it, Akira grabbed it and left his dad and Sadayo to finish putting what little food remained. Making sure to put gloves on this time, he headed out into the cold and turned the corner towards the garbage can, only to once again walk in on a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear.

"Haru...I…." Yusuke's voice was breaking as he spoke. "I can't even..."

"Yusuke." Akira heard the crunching of snow which he figured was Haru moving. "Yusuke, you didn't do this intentionally. You were having a nightmare and you..."

"I hurt you." Akira could hear the tears in his friends' voice. "I know what happened but I still hurt you."

"You did." Haru's voice was still calm, but Akira could hear it beginning to weaken. "But, I forgive you and I will never blame you."

"I don't deserve it." There was a loud clanging and, Akira heard the garbage can hit the ground. "I'm a failure."

"Stop that!" Akira's body tightened at the sound of Haru yelling. "I'm not going to stand for you talking about yourself like that."

"Haru..." Yusuke sounded as shocked as Akira felt.

"We've all dealt what you've gone through. Makoto hurt Sae-san once on accident in her sleep, Ann screams so loud that she scares the people. Ryuji's accidentally broken a lamp when's he's had nightmares, Futaba goes through bouts of insomnia, and me..."

Akira heard her sniff and say, "You know what I see."

"Haru." There was some more shuffling and Akira didn't hear anything until Yusuke spoke. "I know you dream of how he died."

"It's not just that." Haru finally sounded like she'd begun to break. "I also dream about when we were erased and what could have happened if we hadn't won. Even after all these years, I can't stop it."

"But you've been getting help." Yusuke's voice sounded muffled, but Akira could still hear him clearly. "You've been getting better."

"Which is what I want for you." Haru's voice sounded calm again but still sounded like she was in pain. "I want to reiterate that I know what you did was an accident. You are a good person Yusuke and the fact you're willing to protect me, even if it was an accident, means a lot. But I don't want you to suffer like this. I can help, but you need more than I can offer."

"You're right." Yusuke sounded like he was beginning to sound like his old self, but Akira could hear the resignation as well. "You've been incredible Haru, but...I don't want that to happen again; you're too precious to me."

"Yusuke." Akira could hear the smile in her voice and then the shuffling of clothes and several moments of quiet.

"Can you...come to my place?"

"Are you sure?" Haru sounded happy but nervous. "I don't want to force it on you."

"I'm sure." Yusuke finally sounded back to his old self. "I want to show you what I've been working on and...I've been getting cold at night."

There was the shuffling of clothes, followed by the sound of their shoes crunching on the snow. Prepping himself, Akira made it seem like he'd casually decided to start walking around the corner.

"Hey guys," he said trying to sound casual. He noticed that both of them were smiling and Haru had her arm locked around Yusuke's. "Are you heading out?"

"Yeah." Haru beamed happily up at him and broke contact with Yusuke to give him a quick hug before Yusuke shook his hand.

"Tell your parents thank you for everything." Yusuke's grip tightened and Akira returned it in kind. "And my thanks to you and Sadayo as well."

"Just take care of each other." Akira smiled at the two of them and watched as Haru returned to her place at Yusuke's side. "And listen to each other. I've been learning that the hard way."

They both said they would and wandered off toward the gate where Haru's driver was waiting for them. When the gate closed, Akira deposited the trash and then returned to the house. It was much quieter than it had been and he felt relaxed. It had been a much better day than he had planned, regardless of the surprise party and visit from his family. As he took off his coat and everything, Akira heard some talking from the kitchen and entered to see Sadayo and his parents sitting at the table talking quietly.

"Everything okay?" Akira headed to the fridge and poured himself a small soda.

"As okay as they can be," replied Osamu as he sipped at a tall glass of ice water.

"What's going on?" Akira was worried by his father's choice of words.

"Sadayo," Akira watched as his mother shifted in her chair as she spoke, "was beginning to tell us the truth about how you two really got together."


	6. Chapter 6

This story is set six years after the game and roughly a month and a half after my story "November Rain". This is a slice-of-life fiction. Nothing really game related. It's mostly about how they adjust to life after the game and the tolls relationships, family, and even having to deal with the fact that you can't relive the past.

However, I would like to say that again I am well aware of consent laws so...if you'd like to talk to me...please approach as an adult.

Also this is a LONG chapter okay. I had to cut out the love scene and I added nearly 2000 words to make it flow properly. I am sorry for the length but this wasn't an easy chapter to figure out. Next chapter though will be the last one for a while, love scene included. But, I have to go on a hiatus and work on a long overdue project that's due at the end of the month. So I'm gonna have to take a break and figure out where things go from here. I hope you all enjoy this one and again I am SO SORRY for the length.

Also I don't own this series! I just own the original characters and the plot points. So...you know, I hope you guys like it and please do sue me Atlus for making a fanfiction!

Chapter 6

"I thought I told you to sit down?"

Sadayo looked up from the sink as Osamu appeared with the last remnants of the dishes and shrugged, "I want to help."

"Sadayo," Osamu gave her a smile and tried to take the plate in her hand, "you are supposed to be resting."

"And it's my house." Sadayo pulled the plate away as she swung her hip toward him; sending him back a couple of inches when it collided with him. "I'll clean up if I want. If I need someone to do something I'll get Akira to do it."

"Seriously?" Osamu snorted as he grabbed a dish from the drying rack and began wiping it with a towel. "You've got him that well trained?"

"I wouldn't say trained," Sadayo gave him a wink and handed him the plate she'd just been washing. "It's just something we say about one another. He's actually very helpful when he's home and is a pretty decent cook."

"You mean he can cook something other than curry and coffee?" Osamu had faint memories of his son cooking for them and shuddered. "Not that I'm saying he's bad at making those, it just gets to be rather monotonous after a while."

"Yes, he can cook more than curry and brew coffee." Sadayo could sympathize with Osamu having spent months experiencing several variations of Akira's signature dishes. "We've both grown better in the kitchen. It's just lately I've been the one who's been doing the majority of the cooking since he's rarely home early enough."

"How long has this been going on," Osamu asked casually as he began putting glasses into the dishwasher.

Sadayo stopped and looked at her fiance's father and gave him a cautious smirk. "I'm not falling for that."

"Falling for what?" Osamu looked genuinely puzzled but Sadayo had seen him do this before to a few people.

"I'm not one of the patients on your couch, Osamu-san." Sadayo gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow and chuckled. "I'm not going to let you shrink me."

"I'm not trying to shrink you." Osamu began putting away the small pile of dishes as he spoke. "I'm asking from a place of fatherly concern."

"Does that mean you accept me into the family?" Sadayo already knew the answer but she wanted to hear him say it.

"You've been a member for a long time daughter-in-law of mine." He gave her a kiss on the forehead just as Sachiko happened to return from upstairs.

"I see that you've wasted no time in moving on to greener pastures." Sachiko looked flustered and in need of a chair, but her plans would have to wait.

"Not at all." Osamu wandered over to his wife, pulled her close and dipped her into a kiss. "You're the only woman for me."

"Oh if you insist." Sachiko laughed and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and pulled him into another deep kiss.

Sadayo smirked and could see where Akira got his unique brand of romance from. In the four years since she'd known them, Osamu and Sachiko had shown to be a stark contrast to her parents. While her parents were calm and collected, Osamu and Sachiko had much more energy to them and Sadayo found it refreshing. She had plenty of happy memories from her childhood, but Sadayo wished her parents had always been more like Akira's. There was no doubt she loved her parents. They were good people, respectable, and were in their own way very loving and encouraging. But growing up Sadayo always had to be quiet, respectful, and to do as she somewhat. Though not stifling, her parents had a tendency to hover and it made social life a bit awkward but for all their faults she still loved them and missed them.

A small twinge of guilt hit her as she thought about her parents. She'd barely talked to her father since they'd left and her mother's only communication had been the small bundle of gifts she'd mailed for Christmas. Making a mental note to at least write a thank you letter, Sadayo finished the dishes and began prepping some water in the electric kettle for tea.

"I'll get that dear." Sachiko had broken away from her husband and began grabbing mugs and glasses.

"Thank you." Sadayo didn't feel like arguing and sat down at the table and rubbed her eyes. She was a bit tired, but when she looked at her hand she saw the remnants of tears. "Damn it."

"What's bothering you?" Osamu appeared with some fruit and offered her some. He gave her a gentle look and placed the bowl on the table before taking some for himself. "You know we'll listen to you if you want to talk."

Caving in, Sadayo grabbed several pieces and crammed a few grapes in her mouth before saying with stuffed cheeks, "Ficking afouy ma par'ns."

"I'm sorry?" Osamu chuckled and began eating a couple of small bits of fruit. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I was thinking about my parents." Sadayo sighed and set her remaining fruit back into the bowl and sighed in frustration.

"I take it you've had another argument with them about you and Akira," stated Sachiko as she appeared with tea and a tall glass of ice water for Osamu. For as little Akira's parents knew about how their relationship had started, Akira had asked if he could vent to Sachiko and Osamu about her parent's treatment of him and Sadayo had agreed. This didn't paint the best picture of her mother and father, but at least they had some knowledge about their relationship.

"Not only him but the baby as well." Sadayo sipped her tea and looked up at them. "They're still coming to terms with the fact that I'm pregnant"

"What do they have against the baby?" Osamu's voice was a mix of professional curiosity and concern.

"It's more, my mother." Sadayo took another sip of tea and sighed. "I haven't talked to my dad that much, but that's more because his job is in their busy season. My mother on the other hand," Sadayo rubbed her temple and shook her head, "she's been silent since I last saw her. She sent a package and some letters but I've only opened the jacket she sent me."

"The jacket you wore out today?" Sachiko had decided on instant coffee instead of tea and was nibbling on a cookie.

"Yeah," Sadayo smiled at how comfortable it was. "She may not be completely happy about our relationship, but she's at least trying."

"Is she at least happy about the baby?" Osamu stole one of the cookies and shoved it into his mouth. "Or is it more about….

"I think it's more about whom the father of the baby is rather than the fact that I'm pregnant," Sadayo confirmed as she felt herself begin to get worked up again. "I'd have thought that after he graduated and started his own business, she'd get over it, but she had the audacity to still question everything he and I have. I know that we lied for years but we've worked hard to make up for the lies and sneaking around. But I just wish she'd get over it instead of guilting me into revealing information I haven't told her."

Osamu and Sachiko both gave each other concerned looks at this revelation. They knew all about Reika and Sora's dislike of Akira and in truth, they could understand why considering their former relationship as teacher and student. They themselves had been worried about the implications it could have on Sadayo's career but they'd never pressed them and had for the past several years waited patiently for them to open up.

Both of them looked at each other while Sadayo refilled her mug. They gave each other those looks that played out the conversation of if they should gently press for more information. Sachiko looked a little more uncomfortable than her husband about asking for information, but they had to make a decision when Sadayo returned with her mug and began making a fresh cup of tea.

Giving her husband a nod, Sachiko waited as Osamu leaned forward and calmly asked, "Sadayo, I'm not trying to pry but what exactly do you mean by the things you haven't told her?"

Sadayo looked up in shock and clenched her fist; her eyes darting between the two of them as she asked in a poorly disguised voice, "What are you talking about?"

"Sadayo," Sachiko's voice was quiet and she did her best to sound maternal and comforting, "we can tell something is bothering you and we want to help."

"I'm…," Sadayo looked hastily between the two of them and felt her hand begin to shake.

"Sadayo," Osamu reached out and gently clasped her wrist, "we just want to know more about what's bothering you. We understand that you and Akira aren't comfortable with telling us everything, but we want to help. It won't change how we perceive you. But we're going to be family and want you to trust us."

"I do trust you." Sadayo looked up at the kind faces and felt herself calm slightly. "But the truth….the truth isn't as clear cut as we made it seemed. There are things that I'm worried will make you perceive me as a horrible person, no matter how much I explain them."

"Can I show you something Sadayo?" Sachiko began fishing through her pockets and retrieved her phone.

"Sachiko!" Hissed Osamu when he saw his wife's phone. "I don't think that's necessary."

Sadayo jumped at the aggression in Osamu's voice. It was the first time she'd ever heard him speak to his wife in such a way and it made Sadayo nervous.

"If it helps her relax, I think it's worth the risk." Sachiko began flipping through her phone, seemingly unfazed by her husband's tone.

"I don't know why you kept that thing." Osamu sat back in annoyance; his arms crossed. "It doesn't make a difference in the long run."

"It might make a difference now." Sachiko looked up from her phone and at her husband. While it wasn't as cool as her husband's stare, Sachiko had a look of irritation on her face that was beginning to scare even Sadayo. Setting her phone on the table, Sachiko left it her hand over the screen and did her best to comfort the frightened woman.

"Sadayo, dear," Sachiko took a deep breath and sighed, "I want to tell you once more that we trust you wholeheartedly. We trust you with our son and our grandchild. We love you as one of our own, but..." Sachiko gave her husband a look that went unnoticed by him before continuing, "we've known you and Akira have been keeping a secret from us and we have since he first brought you home to meet us."

"I don't understand." Sadayo looked to Osamu and finally, the man broke with a loud grunt.

Sitting up, the normally relaxed face was stern and set as he crossed his arms more in thought than disapproval. His eyes were shut and seemed so deep in thought that Sadayo thought she could see steam pouring from his ears.

"I would like to add before this goes any further," Osamu looked at his wife whose face was bright red, "we aren't going to force you to tell us anything you don't want to. If you don't want to tell us anything then we won't pressure you. We," he looked like he was sitting on a porcupine as he continued, "we want to understand you two."

"What is there to understand?" Sadayo felt like disappearing into her chair at the guilt she felt. "You know...you know he was my student."

"Sadayo," Sachiko relented and pushed her phone toward Sadayo who felt her blood grow cold, "we know you'd been to our home before Akira brought you to meet us."

The picture on the phone was one of Sadayo and Akira hiding beneath the awning that covered the front door of the Kurusu family front door. It had been raining and her hair was soaked, but Akira was there, holding her tight in his arms, a smile of contentment on both their faces.

"Were you…," Sadayo looked at the time stamp on the picture as being one of her first visits to the Kurusu household shortly after he'd left Tokyo. "Were you spying on us?"

"Heavens no," shouted both Sachiko and Osamu.

"We had no intention of ever spying on either of you!" Sachiko snatched her phone back and sighed loudly. "We have a habit of asking our neighbors to keep an eye on our house when we go out of town, but after Akira came home…"

"They started snapping pictures of anything that they thought was suspicious." Osamu looked as ashamed as Sadayo had the first time she'd told Akira about Takase. "We don't know if this was your first time visiting our house but it was the first and only picture we ever received of the two of you."

"Why didn't they send you more?" Sadayo felt her embarrassment subside momentarily as Sachiko pulled the phone away.

"We aren't stupid," Osamu smirked at the blush that spread through Sadayo's cheeks. "We knew Akira would possibly get a girlfriend when we sent him away so it wasn't difficult to figure out what was going on. So we told them to ignore anyone he brought into the house; they weren't happy about that."

Sadayo could only imagine the frustration on the faces of the Kurusu's neighbors when they told them to mind their own business and smirked, "Thank you for trusting us enough to tell them to mind their own business."

"As we've said, we trust you." Sachiko held up her phone and showed the cloud storage where the picture had probably sat for years. The picture glared on the screen along with the prompt asking if she wanted to delete the picture. "And as proof I'll delete this picture. Osamu wanted me to delete it when we first go it but you two looked so happy that I couldn't."

"You can keep it." Sadayo felt gratitude swell at Sachiko's gesture that she couldn't tell her to delete the picture. "It's the least I can do for how supportive you've been and…," Sadayo ran her fingers through her hair and let out a defeated sigh, "I guess I can tell you the truth about our relationship, but only after Ak…."

They heard footsteps approaching and their voices died as Akira stepped into the kitchen. His hair was wet from fresh snowfall and although his face and ears were red from the cold, Sadayo was glad to see that he had at least worn his gloves. He looked relaxed and seemed a bit happier than he had when he left to take out the trash.

"Everything okay?" Was all he asked as he headed to get a glass before pulling some soda from the fridge.

"As okay as they can be," replied Osamu as he played with his glass of ice water.

Sadayo could tell that the way his father spoke had struck a nerve. After putting away the soda, Akira casually glanced over the as if analyzing the situation. She could tell that Akira knew something was wrong and wasn't surprised when he asked, "What's going on?"

"Sadayo," began Sachiko as she began squirming uncomfortably in her chair, "was about to tell us the truth about how you two met."

As if someone had triggered a tripwire. Akira's face went from happiness to a cold fury in an instant. "Is this what you meant by saying we needed to talk?"

"Akira that's not what we meant." Osamu turned around in his chair and narrowed his eyes at his son. Akira followed suit and the pair remained focused on one another. "Sadayo mentioned something about her parents not knowing the whole story about you two and we just followed the crumbs."

"Akira." Sadayo gave a nervous glance to her fiance and felt relieved that he'd mustered the strength to break the focus on his father. "Akira come here, please?"

Akira nodded and made his way toward the table. His eyes were trained on both of his parents, but he made his way over to her easily enough. Seizing his hand, she winced at the sudden pressure of his grip but felt it relax almost instantly when he heard her hiss.

"Look at me." Sadayo watched as Akira's gaze softened slightly before turning away from his parents. She knew the look in his eyes and could tell he was holding back what he really wanted to say. She'd seen it only a handful of times, the biggest one being back when she'd walked out on him the night before he turned himself in.

Wanting to keep his parents from doing the same, Sadayo brushed her fingers against his cheek and asked, "Do you trust me?"

Akira's gaze went from fury and contempt to surprise and confused. "Of course I do."

"Then I want you to know that just before you walked in I was about to say," she gave Osamu and Sachiko an apologetic smile, "that I wouldn't say anything unless you were comfortable with it."

"And we promised that we wouldn't pressure her if she denied telling us anything." Sachiko was the one who spoke up, her gaze as firm as Akira's. "Whatever you may think of your father and I we do respect your privacy."

"You respected it enough to ignore me for a year," muttered Akira before he could stop himself.

"Is that what this is all about?" Osamu's face was turning bright red, his teeth grinding in frustration. "You think we ignored you for that entire you because we didn't care?"

Akira felt his blood begin to boil as he heard his father speak.

"Sure as shit would have been nice for you to tell me what the hell was going on." Akira's cold glare had returned and Sadayo could see the same look form in his father's eyes. "I sat there, in my first month, getting harassed by everyone that walked by me. I endured months of people talking about me behind my back, spreading rumors. I nearly got expelled, again, because some piece of shit teacher was sacred that we would turn him in for…."

"You think it was easy for us as well?!" Osamu's hand slammed down on the table, spilling some of the tea and water and scaring both Sadayo and Sachiko. "Your sister nearly got suspended on multiple occasions for defending you. She nearly lost her scholarships and the house was vandalized countless times because of your decisions!"

Akira's face burned bright red at his father's accusations, but he kept quiet and allowed his father to speak.

"Nobody forced you to help that girl." Osamu's anger was slowly beginning to subside, but he looked like he was about to break into tears. "But we knew you were right in your actions. You did the right thing and we couldn't help but support you because we understood why you did it and that had an affect on us as well." He lifted his head and wiped away a tear as he shook his head. "You did the right thing and were punished for it but so were we. We didn't ignore you because we wanted to, we weren't given much of a choice with everything that was going on. I had patients attempting to leave left and right, your mother was constantly scrutinized at work, was nearly fired because of harassment, and with everything that happened with your sister, we just got overwhelmed."

Akira looked at his mother and asked, "Is this true Mom?"

"Yes." Sachiko squeezed her husband's shoulder and the color slowly drained from Osamu's face. "We didn't believe that you hurt that man because you wanted to, but people blamed us as much as the courts blamed you." Sachiko's hand moved to her husband's hair and began caressing it softly. "We didn't enjoy sending you away if that's what you've been thinking, nor did we want to ignore you." She exhaled loudly and looked like she was about to be sick. "We were just so busy keeping our heads above water that we had to prioritize ourselves because we figured you were in safe enough hands that you could get along without us."

Akira felt sick to his stomach. He'd never bothered to even ask his parent's what had happened while he was away. When he'd got home, the house had looked fine and his parents and sister were happy to see him, but the stares from the neighbors and his schoolmates were the same. His old friends barely acknowledged him and he threw himself into his studies and part-time jobs so much that he rarely paid attention to anybody. He saw what he had wanted to see and he realized that as odd as it was, he'd created a cognition where he was the only victim in his family.

Running a hand through his hair, Akira looked at Sadayo who gave him a sad smile and kissed his forehead and stroked his cheek. She didn't have to say anything to tell him what he knew to be done. He knew she wanted him to apologize and he did as well. He'd missed his parents and understood that if they were to move on they needed to make amends.

"I'm sorry," he said after several minutes of tense silence, "for everything. I didn't...I mean…." He took a deep breath and felt his face drop a the looks on his parents face. The vexation and anger were subsiding, but both of them looked like they could fly off the handle at any moment.

Akira bowed his head and said with the deepest remorse, "I am sorry for all the pain I caused you and I'm sorry for being so poor of a son that I didn't ask you how my actions had affected you."

"You were sixteen," Osamu replied, his anger mellowed but he was clearly too upset to move beyond a polite tone. "You were like every other teenager I've had to deal with, too caught up in their own shit to realize what's going on in the world around them.

"I wouldn't say he was too caught up," smiled Sadayo as she rubbed her thumb against Akira's hand.

"Is that so," Osamu folded his hands together and rested his chin on them, "then please if you're both willing, I think it's time you enlightened us."

Sadayo smirked and looked at Akira who closed his eyes in preparation and asked, "Are you sure you want to tell them everything?"

"There's no reason not to." Sadayo squeezed Akira's hand before kissing it, "We've put them through a lot and they've earned the right to know."

"I think you'd better start from the beginning," Sachiko requested quietly, "before you start making cryptic remarks."

"That's fair," commented Sadayo as she gave her stomach a comforting rub. "But before I get into everything there are some things you need to know about before he and I met."

"Then please explain." Osamu gave Sadayo and Akira a calm smile and said, "And as promised we won't hold any ill-will toward you."

"And I appreciate your open-mindedness," replied Sadayo as she squeezed Akira's hand and took a few deep breaths before beginning."

"Before I worked at Shujin I had a job at another school and while I was there I formed a close relationship with a student named, Takase Taiki."

"Close in what manner?" Sachiko had a slight tinge to her cheeks as she spoke.

"He was a student who had guardians that used him like a pocket book." Sadayo's voice was shaking, but with Akira's hand in hers, she remained strong. "He wanted to be a good student and go to college, but his adoptive parents forced him to work several part time jobs to keep up their lifestyle." She waited as Sachiko and Osamu growled loudly at this news and Sadayo knew why. She knew that they wanted Akira and Eiko to learn the value of hard-work, but they valued education more. "The school wanted him to leave because of his grades, but I figured he deserved the chance to prove himself. So I began to tutor him, but after a while rumors about us spread, and his parents complained so I was given an ultimatum to either have him leave school or be fired."

Sadayo wiped at her eyes and sniffled. "And like a coward instead of being a teacher and standing up for my student, I chose to save my own skin and shortly after he died on the way to one of his jobs."

"Sadayo." Sachiko reached out and took the younger woman's free hand, followed by Osamu placing his hand on top.

"It's okay." Sadayo put on a brave face, but Akira could feel her hand shaking. "I'm okay, I am."

"I am so sorry that happened. You have our deepest condolences," whispered Osamu as she composed herself. "I can't imagine that things got better for you after that."

"They didn't," laughed Sadayo through the tears. "Any rumor that was floating around about us was just exacerbated to the point that I felt no other alternative but to transfer out and try to start a new life."

"So you transferred to Shujin?"

Sadayo nodded at Sachiko's inquiry and said, "They seemed to pride themselves on second chances so I took it and instead of applying myself as much as I had at my old job I did the bare minimum. I made my lessons and pop quizzes, but I didn't do much in regards to actually helping the kids. I just recited my lessons, answered as few questions as possible and just...existed is the best way I can describe it."

"If you didn't want to put in as much effort why did you stay?" Osamu's voice wasn't judgmental, but more inquisitive. He was one who always believed that you should derive joy from your work and if you didn't you should leave it or find something about it that you loved.

"Because Osamu-san for as long as I can remember I've wanted to be a teacher." Sadayo chuckled as a memory floated to the front of her mind. "When I was a kid after I did my homework and chores, I'd grab my animals and dolls, sometimes my mom or dad, and have them sit down to these fake lessons I'd created. I've never wanted to be anything else."

She heard them laugh and looked up to see them smiling. Sadayo could only imagine what images of her were going through their minds as they envisioned a seven-year-old Sadayo squeaking out lessons to stuffed animals and her massive father.

Feeling a surge of courage she took a deep breath and continued, "But despite that drive, how I chose to initially approach my life at Shujin didn't help. I blinded myself to a lot of things."

"Like what," asked Osamu with a cautious glance at his son.

"There was a teacher at the school named Kamoshida." Sadayo took a deep breath and shook her head. "He was a big shot volleyball player that was hired by the school to shine the spotlight on the volleyball program and bring in more funding and prestige."

"I remember hearing about him," commented Sachiko after a moment's pondering. "He was the one who admitted to abusing the students wasn't he?"

"He did more than that," commented Akira. Sadayo could see the fire burning in his eyes and Sadayo knew what was going through his mind. "He destroyed those kids. He hurt my friend Mishima, he harassed Ann, he had Ryuji's knee broken to the point that, couldn't run anymore, and he pushed Ann's friend Shiho to the point where she jumped off the school roof and had to go through months of therapy before she could walk again."

Sadayo's hand left the comfort of Akira's parent's hands to keep his from shaking. "He was also the one who nearly got him and Ryuji expelled and I'm ashamed now to admit it that I nearly let it happen."

"I see." Osamu and Sachiko's gazes faltered when they heard Sadayo admit to this. Her heart fell into her stomach as the fear of them beginning to hate her festered in the back of her mind.

"I'm not proud of it," Sadayo said, feeling their gaze on her. "At the time I didn't have the best opinion of him. I thought the school had just dumped him on me as some sort of test to see if I'd make the same mistakes I had at my old job. To me and the majority of the school, he was just some loser that was someone to be feared or pitied so I let him be and hoped that some way he'd be taken off my hands and made someone else's problem. But in truth, my initial preconceptions of him is what fueled my parent's dislike of him."

"I take it you told them all about him," asked Osamu with a knowing tone.

"As much as I could at the time." Sadayo gave Akira a sheepish grin. "I just complained about him and slandered him. Told them how I thought he cheated when I asked him questions and for some reason, even after the Kamoshida incident cleared up, I never bothered to correct them."

"Why didn't you?" Sachiko looked upset but was again keeping her judgment to herself as she had promised.

"Because I….," Sadayo let go of Akira's hands and ruffled her hair in an attempt to mentally prepare herself. When she was ready she sighed and said, "Because like Osamu-san so eloquently puts it, I was too caught up in my own shit to really pay attention to what was going on. Like so many people who run away from their past, my past eventually came back to haunt me."

"Did the administration find out about what happened at your old job?" While she still wasn't happy about Sadayo's initial treatment of her son, Sachiko's worry overcame her disdain quite easily.

"They knew about what happened," confirmed Sadayo as she felt Akira's hand rest gently on her knee. "But it had never caused any problems because as you may have noticed with Kamoshida they knew how to sweep a problem under the rug. But the problem I was having involved, Takase-kun's parents and I wanted to keep that as much of a secret as possible."

"Why were his parent's bothering you?" Osamu's brow was furrowed in confusion. "They were the ones responsible for Takase-kun's predicament, not yours."

"But they knew how I felt about him." Sadayo coughed and shifted in her seat. "Or rather, they knew that I cared enough about him to have felt somewhat responsible for his death so...they attacked me with it. They made me feel guilty, they said that I was responsible for it, and somehow convinced me that in order to atone I had to take over for Takase and...I fell for it."

Immediately both Akira and Sadayo's faces fell. They had reached the point of no return in this part of their story. While they were confident that his parents would live up to their word, Akira couldn't know what his parents would think of her in the back of their minds. To both of their knowledge, Sachiko and Osamu had little to no knowledge about the kind of company Sadayo had worked for and worried about where their minds would go.

"How did you pay them?" It was Sachiko who spoke up and in the back of her eye, Akira and Sadayo could see a curiousness at just how far Sadayo had to go to replace Takase.

"I took part-time work where I could." Sadayo's hand disappeared beneath the table and clenched Akira's. He didn't make a noise but she felt his hand twitch out of pain. "I walked dogs, did some cleaning for neighbors, and worked in a few stores near our old apartment and for a while that worked, but…."

"But like most blackmailers, they ended up increasing their demands." It was a statement of fact that left Osamu's lips. He'd had experience in dealing with people who'd dealt with abusive spouses that pulled stunts like this and his face was that of a father rather than a psychiatrist. "Which led to you seeking higher paying work."

"And also to me not taking care of myself." Sadayo gave Akira a forgiving smile and lifted his hand to kiss it. "It's why I feel like Akira and I have a bit of a curse on us. First Takase worked himself too hard, then me, and now him."

All three of them laughed as Akira's face turned red when Sadayo gently poked at his bandages.

"What job did you have to take?" Sachiko was sounding a little more stressed than they'd have liked, but it was understandable given how nervous Sadayo was acting.

"I…," she gave Akira a look and when he gave her a nod she felt her pulse slow a little and said, "I took a job as a...as a maid….a phone order maid."

Sachiko and Osamu leaned back in their chairs and looked at each other. Their faces were stone, but both Sadayo and Akira could tell they were trying to keep their cool and remain open minded. They knew what was going through their heads, the possible acts Sadayo may or may not have committed while working for Victoria but after a moment they broke eye contact and turned their gaze to the couple and Osamu asked, "What kind of work did you have to do?"

"The things most people expect. Cleaning, some cooking, laundry on occasion, you had to refer to the person who called master or mistress, and we were even trained to give back massages if it was requested of us."

"Were you ever requested to do anything more?" asked Osamu with a cautious glance to Akira.

"No." The commitment in Sadayo's voice surprised her in-laws but what came after shocked them even more. "If anyone ever asked me to do that I would have flat out refused, I assure you." Sadayo couldn't help but giggle just a bit at the question. But her mirth was momentary as she once again began to explain her predicament. "I wasn't a very popular maid at that job, so I never had to worry about being asked to do those things. I was considered too old by some people and was used as a back-up if the popular girls were too busy. But I think my lack of enthusiasm was my greatest weakness. People could see that I didn't enjoy it and I wasn't good at faking interest so I never got requested but it was all I could do to keep up with what I had to pay the Takase's."

"And how exactly did our son fit into all of this?" Sachiko looked between her son and his fiance.

"I….," Akira coughed nervously as he looked at his mother. "I would like to first point out that I wasn't the mastermind behind what happened; Ryuji was and if you want you can call and ask him if you don't believe me."

"I can confirm that." Sadayo had a small smile forming in the corner of her mouth as she answered. "Our friend Mishima can also validate this as well if you want us to call him."

"That'll be unnecessary." Sachiko chuckled at their enthusiasm to prove his innocence.

"But I just want you to know that," Akira took a deep breath to try and find the words to explain how that night had started.

"Please don't tell me you called the maid service." Osamu's face disappeared behind his hand as he shook his head.

"I was the one who called." Akira slumped in his chair and followed his father in hiding his face. "I tried to get Ryuji and Mishima to do it but they chickened out so I called."

Sadayo was now giggling at how red her fiance's face was and couldn't help but poke the bear. "Tell them what you guys called it."

"Please don't make me, Sadayo." Akira's face disappeared into the table as his hands covered his head. "It was Mishima's idea to call it that not mine!"

"You named calling a maid service?" Sachiko rolled her eyes at her son's immaturity but there was a smile on her face.

"I said Mishima named it not me." Akira's face turned up from the table, but his hands were still covering his head.

Sadayo couldn't contain herself anymore and snorted out, "They called it 'Operation Maidwatch'."

"Sadayo!" Akira's face was now like a tomato as he shouted at her, but thankful that she'd at least recovered some of her good spirits. "Why'd you have to tell them?!"

"Because if I'm baring it all, so are you, my love." Sadayo gave him a kiss on the lips and nuzzled his forehead.

"That's all well and good," coughed Osamu in a poor attempt to hide his own amusement, "but what you're telling me is that two other students of yours knew about this job?"

"Just me," corrected Akira as he tried desperately to keep calm. "Ryuji and Mishima disappeared just as she walked through the door and that's when we kind of made this deal."

Sachiko's eyes narrowed at this statement and her maternal instincts forced her to ask, "What kind of deal?"

"It's not what you're thinking," Sadayo hastily assured them. "But I can assure you that it wasn't anything illicit."

"Then you wouldn't mind telling us what you promised him in return for keeping your secret." Sachiko had, for the first time since she'd known Sadayo to truly dislike her son's partner.

Sadayo straightened up and swallowed loudly.

"I said that if he didn't tell the school about my job I'd let him goof off in class on occasion so long as he requested me from the service and kept his grades up."

"And that's when you two..." Osamu gave them both a questioning look but it was Akira who spoke up

"That didn't happen til...much later." Akira adjusted his seat and reached for Sadayo's hand and laced his fingers with hers. "I requested her mostly because she seemed like she needed the money and honestly it was actually nice to see her not look at me like a piece of shit on the bottom of her shoe for once."

Sadayo blushed and brushed a bit of hair behind her ear.

"I may have fed him a lie originally." Sadayo sighed as she remembered what she'd originally told him. "Early on I told him that I had a sick sister in the hospital in hopes of getting requested more, but after getting to know him more I realized that he was actually a much more caring and intelligent person than I'd originally thought." The adoration in her eyes was apparent to everyone at the table when she spoke. "He kept his promise too, he requested me and while I worked he didn't try anything funny or ask me to do anything I was uncomfortable with. And after a time I slowly grew to trust him and genuinely care about him."

"I take it you told him about the Takase's," asked Sachiko with a small hint of pride at her son's actions.

"She did." Akira squeezed Sadayo's hand and brought it to his lips. "After I'd requested her a few times she told me the truth and I don't know but during that conversation, I just felt like she didn't deserve that life; she deserved better."

"That's when you fell for me?" It was Sadayo's turn to blush and blush she did. She'd never heard this and was a bit shocked that it had happened so early in their relationship.

"It's more like when I realized that I wanted to help you." Akira nudged her with his shoulder and gave her hand a gentle kiss. "And that I at least cared about you as more of a friend rather than a teacher."

"What'd she say to get you to want to do that?" Osamu had a small smile on his face and shook his head in amused frustration.

"She said that she felt she didn't deserve to be loved." Akira's hand gripped Sadayo's protectively. "I wanted her to realize that even if it wasn't me that she at least deserved to be loved and if I could help her do that then...I would use whatever power I had to at least give her that feeling."

Sadayo's head disappeared into his shoulder and he could feel something warm and wet begin to pool as she spoke.

"And yet you fell in love with me anyway."

"I did." Akira kissed the top of her head and gave his parents a guilty shrug.

"What happened to the Takase's?" Sachiko gave her son a concerned glare about what happened with his fiance's blackmailers.

"My friends and I did what we did as Phantom Thieves; we changed their hearts and they apologized and paid her back."

"Which was accomplished how exactly?" Osamu had always been curious about this, ever since his son had been arrested and outed as the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

"If you don't mind, Mom and Dad, I think I'd rather save that conversation for another time. It gets rather complicated and we'd need a few other people here to help fill in some gaps."

"I see." Osamu's face was dubious about this explanation, but he was willing to grant his son leniency given everything they had discussed.

"I know it sounds strange, but it's very convoluted and I want you to know that we didn't threaten or hurt anyone."

"I understand," Osamu relented his questioning and gave both of them a look. "But since you've dodged this question I want to know one other thing right now."

"What is it, Osamu-san?"

Osamu gave his wife a look and smirked malevolently before asking, "Who made the first move?"

"He did." Sadayo smiled as she remembered how nervous he looked when she'd come over to tell him the good news about her quitting Victoria. "He seemed so confident when he first opened his mouth but I could see that he was scared of my rejecting him."

"You were the one who was scared." Akira feigned her reaction that earned him a slap on the shoulder. "I'm not going to say I wasn't nervous because I was but you were downright scared."

"I had every reason to be!" Sadayo pulled away and stuck her tongue out at him. "You were my student and almost seventeen. You know what could have happened if we got caught. It would have been worse if your parents decided to get involved."

"We wouldn't have done anything," Sachiko confirmed after getting a nod from her husband.

"Excuse me?" Sadayo was taken aback by this and blinked. "Why wouldn't you have done anything? I mean...you had at least some precedent to take legal action."

"We know," Sachiko nodded and looked a little bit uncomfortable as she spoke. "And truth be told we aren't exactly happy that you returned his advances while he was still your student."

"I'm not exactly proud of it," Sadayo whispered as she looked down at her round stomach. "I did try and refuse him. I spent days trying to figure out how to let him down gently, but the more I thought about how much he'd done for me and how kind and sweet he truly was I realized that I wanted to take the risk." She gave Akira a loving smile and clutched his wrist. "He was very understanding when I originally tried to refuse him. He made a couple of good points but after a bit he seemed to understand me and though I could see how much it hurt him he was willing to let me go."

She let out a satisfied sigh and laughed saying, "But I caved and I sat down next to him on the couch and let him put his head in my lap and we just talked and enjoyed each other's company."

"I take it you two were careful after you decided to become a couple?" As much as she was smiling, Sachiko's concern about their well-being took precedent.

"Of course," said both Sadayo and Akira in unison.

"We were very careful to only talk on the phone or meet up at places we weren't likely to see people we knew." Sadayo straightened herself as she spoke in hopes of maintaining some sort of innocence.

Akira smiled at her attempt to assert dominance over the conversation and added, "We went to the art museum, hung out in my room and talked, we did act a little dangerous and sneak off to the teacher's lounge to talk during the school festival. I got turned down when I asked if I could put my head in her lap."

"You still get pushy about that when we go to the park and sit on the bench." Sadayo gave him the slightest hint of a smirk as the memory flooded her mind.

"Did you have any other close calls," asked Osamu with a small laugh of appreciation at his son's courage.

"No." Sadayo shook her head but continued to smile. "Most of our dates took place in his room watching movies or talking. We even went to the fishing hole a few times, but my favorite was the Ferris wheel."

"What happened on the Ferris wheel?" Sachiko's face was lit up at the possibilities the Ferris wheel held.

"It was the first time I said I loved him." Sadayo could hear Osamu and Sachiko laugh at this. "But I didn't realize how much I loved him until the day before he turned himself in. When I heard that news I," Sadayo shook her head and blinked back some tears, "I was so glad that it was winter vacation because I couldn't stop crying after I found out. It would have been easier if I could write to him, but I couldn't. If I had I would have been investigated as an accomplice and my job would have been on the line and we would have been exposed. I couldn't do that to him."

When she was done, the room remained quiet save for the sound of Morgana mumbling something about Makoto's snoring as he wandered down the steps toward his cat house.

"I'm not proud of doing that to her," Akira said after making sure Morgana had quieted down. "It was all I could do to keep her safe. But," he reached an arm around her pulled her tight and rested a hand protectively on her stomach, "I'm not ashamed of her. Maybe a bit ashamed of how we handled telling you two and how I treated all of you." Akira smiled softly as his parent's and said, "But I just want to make her happy and at least in some way be a family again."

"We're never going to stop being your family." Sachiko dabbed at her eyes and smiled at both of them. "Thank you for telling us. You have no idea how much of a relief it is to have this off our minds."

"Yeah," Osamu took a sip of water and pulled his wife close to him. "We are glad you were willing to open up to us. It's been bothering us for years."

"I'm sorry," whispered Sadayo as she watched her in-laws embrace each other. "I'm sorry I lied to you but….you have to understand I just...we just didn't know how you would react if you knew my past."

"There's no reason to explain." Osamu gave Akira an apologetic look as he spoke. "We know all too well about how misconceptions can affect people's perception of you."

They all sat there quietly for a few moment, soaking in what had just happened between them. Akira and Sadayo were handling this all much better than his parents. They'd had to explain this only one other time back when the Phantoms had shown up at his parent's house on his eighteenth birthday so they had a vague idea of what to expect, but parents were always more difficult than friends. Finally, after about twenty minutes, Sachiko spoke up.

"Can I ask something of the two of you?"

"Of course, Sachiko-san."

"First off young lady," Sachiko pointed a finger at Sadayo and smirked saying, "you're going to start calling me Mom."

Sadayo's eyebrows rose up her face and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course." Osamu smiled at the look on Akira's and Sadayo's faces. "You're going to marry our son and we want you to get used to being part of the family."

Sadayo blushed and bowed her head and stiffly said, "Thank you very much, Mom...Dad."

Every Kurusu at the table chuckled at her formal speech but they could tell she felt relieved at being officially welcomed into the family.

"Is that all you wanted to ask, Mom," asked Akira through a stifled yawn. "It's getting a bit late and we haven't been sleeping well."

"Well, no." Sachiko looked to Osamu and then concernedly at Sadayo. "We're both concerned about the two of you. We understand that you've had your friends coming by to help but they're all getting busy with their own lives and well….," Sachiko's hands began rubbing nervously together as she tried to gather her courage. "We were wondering if you'd be open to the prospect of me coming to live with you for a bit after the weather cleared up?"

"What about your work?" Sadayo shot up in her sleep at this suggestion. "I'm still at least three months from my due date and can you two even afford for you to take that much time off?"

"We're fine." Osamu waved away Sadayo's concern and smiled. "As you know, I moved my practice into the house, Eiko has her scholarships and part-time jobs to keep her supporting herself, and your mother has more than enough time saved up to keep a paycheck rolling in for a bit."

"After what you told us about both your trips to the hospital we just want to help. We know you're more than capable of handling it, but as much as I love your friends like my own, they have their own lives and if something like what you told us happens again, you'll need someone close by."

Sadayo looked at Akira and shrugged saying, "She makes a good point, Akira. If I have another incident like what happened at my parents and no one is around, I don't know want to think about what could happen."

"I don't want to know either." Akira pulled her tightly against him and gently rocked back and forth and sighed before asking, "Are you sure you two can handle this? We don't want this to become a problem for you."

"We can handle it." Sachiko laughed when she saw the concern in her son's eyes. "Your dad and I have more than enough set-aside and if work needs me I can do much of my job from my computer and phone since I've been doing more office work than kitchen work lately."

"Are you okay with this?" Akira looked down at Sadayo who nodded.

"I'm positive." Sadayo sat up and let out a deep sigh. "I mean they're right. Everybody is much busier these days and honestly I think we could use the help."

"Okay." Akira gave Sadayo a gentle kiss on the lips before looking at his mother and saying, "Pack your bags, Grandma you're moving to Tokyo."


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: After a long conversation with his parents, Akira and Sadayo return to their room for some much needed alone time.

Notes: Hey guys! Last chapter for this story! Thanks for sticking with me. I know the last chapter ended pretty well but I had to write this one as it was stuck in my head. It's not my best because I wrote some new ideas but I hope you like it. This is definitely an 18+ chapter so...keep that in mind! Also, I'm going to be taking a hiatus for a bit! Need to write something for a project and get started on teaching myself to draw! Hopefully you guys enjoy and I'll be back in a month or two with something else! Please don't sue me Atlus! I know these characters are yours!

Chapter 7

As they headed upstairs, Sadayo felt emotionally drained. She and Akira hadn't planned on taking that long to talk to his parents about their love life, but she felt a sort of elation at finally being relieved of most of their secrets. Since they'd had finished their conversation, Sadayo could feel a small change in the air. As they set up the futon for Osamu and Sachiko, she could sense a change in how Akira and his parents talked. There was a lightness in their words that she hadn't heard before and Sadayo could see a warmth in Akira's eyes she hadn't seen before.

"How are you feeling?"

Sadayo stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at Akira who was a step behind her. He was standing a little straighter as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders but had this worried look in his eyes.

"I'm tired," Sadayo answered with a sleepy smile. "Your parents are more draining than mine."

"Try growing up with them." Akira climbed the final step and took her hand. "But, I meant about telling them everything."

"Ah," Sadayo gave him a kiss and smiled at the slight tickle from his beard. "I'm okay with them knowing. It's not like I actually did anything illegal working for Victoria. I know a few girls who did and to be honest if I had stayed working for them, I don't know how long I would have lasted before I broke down and…."

Sadayo stopped for a moment and quietly asked, "If I had done those things, would you still want to be with me."

"It's a little late to be asking that now." Akira gave her a smile and brushed some hair out of her face. "I have a biased opinion, but to be honest I more than likely would have done the exact same thing. Although I'd have been more honest with my parents about our relationship. Would have saved us a lot of grief."

"Yeah, it would have." Sadayo felt her heart flutter a bit knowing he would have chosen to be with her had she given in to her desperation. "But in the end, it worked out. Your mom will be here to live with us soon and hopefully, you and Futaba can figure out a way for you to be home some more."

"I've been thinking of some ideas," Akira wrapped his arms around her neck and massaged just above her shoulders. "It's all a matter of budgeting."

"Sounds..." Sadayo was interrupted by the sound of the guest room opening and a disgruntled Eiko shuffling out.

"I swear that girl is the most inconsolable drunk I've ever met."

Akira and Sadayo turned their heads to see a snoring Makoto sprawled out on the queen sized bed. Her hair was down and spread over her face and one leg was still wearing her jeans while the other was bare. The clincher though was the sight of Makoto's usually crisp shirt was open, revealing a sports bra and firm stomach.

"Inconsolable?" Akira gave his sister an incredulous look and tried to hide his smile. "Eiko, did something happen?"

"Quit being a pervert." Eiko gave her brother a light punch on the shoulder and shut the door. "She kept complaining that she was hot and wanted to cool down. I told her I'd turn on a fan but she kept stripping and trying to talk about how she didn't want to be dropped into a vat of molten steel and the only way to save herself was to take off her clothes."

"Oh no." Akira made a mental note to text Sae in a bit to let her know that Makoto may need to talk to the police psychiatrist at some point.

"Is what she said something I need to worry about?" Eiko looked at the door and asked, "Should I go back in there?"

"Has she begun talking in her sleep or mumbling?" He knew from experience that mumbling was the first sign that she was beginning to slip into a point of no return.

"Talking," answered Eiko with a cocked eyebrow. "Is it bad if she's talking?"

"That's actually a good sign." Akira gave his sister a smile before entering the room. He asked Eiko to help him get her completely onto the bed and pulled the comforter over her, causing her to wake up.

"Akira-kun?" Her voice was slightly slurred and sounded like she was in need of water. "What's going on?"

"You're in the guest room at mine and Sadayo's house." He moved the hair out of her face and asked Eiko to go and get some water and aspirin. "You kind of began to strip before passing out on the bed and kept talking about the not wanting to be melted."

"Oh." Makoto looked over at Sadayo and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to be such a bother."

"Don't worry about it." Sadayo walked forward and placed a gentle hand on Makoto's head. "Just get some sleep. We'll be down the hall if you need something."

"Okay." Makoto's eyes fluttered before she whimpered, "I'm gonna go to Sleepy Time Castle, now."

"Have a good visit." Akira had to hide his laugh as Eiko returned and set everything on the bedside table.

"Thanks, Eiko." Akira gave Makoto one more gentle pat on the head before ushering everyone out. "Mom and Dad are downstairs on the spare futon. The couch isn't comfortable but if you want, I'm sure they wouldn't mind the company."

"I'd rather sleep on a lumpy couch than in there." Eiko yawned loudly and then gave both of them a hug. "Get some sleep you two. I'll see you in the morning."

With Eiko downstairs and Makoto resting peacefully, Akira and Sadayo returned to their room and while Akira began stripping to get in the bed, Sadayo locked their door and disappeared into the closet to get undressed.

She heard the bed creak and the shuffling of sheets and asked, "How's the bed?"

"So much better than the cot in my office," groaned Akira before letting out a loud grunt that signified his stretching. "I don't want to leave it."

"That's going to be difficult," Sadayo giggled as she began removing her shirt and bra. "We still have to eat and go to the bathroom."

"I'll figure it out." Akira let out a loud yawn and asked, " I'm pretty sure I can talk Takemi into giving me a catheter or something and we can order food online."

"That's disgusting," laughed Sadayo as she tossed her shirt and bra on the floor. "If that's how you're going to live your life, then I'm out the door."

"You know I'm kidding," chuckled Akira before letting out another loud groan. "How long are you going to be?"

"Be patient." Sadayo took a moment to remove her leggings and socks. The release of pressure on her legs had Sadayo let out a loud groan of satisfaction. She didn't mind wearing the compression garments, but the extra heat and pressure they applied to her legs was not something she enjoyed. Looking through her clothes, an idea came to mind and after finding what she needed she exited the closet to find Akira dressed in nothing but his boxers and glasses, playing on his phone.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Sadayo placed her hands on her hips and gave him a faux disapproving look.

"Telling Sae-san about Makoto." Akira's voice was monotone as he replied and it was only when he gave her the slightest peripheral glance that he set the phone down. "Are you cold?"

"A little bit." Sadayo was once again dressed in the large terrycloth robe but had it so tightly wrapped around her body that every inch of naked skin was hidden beneath the dark blue fabric. She could feel the blood in her cheeks, but with how dark the room was, and Akira's vision she figured she was safe.

Sitting up, Akira crossed his legs and asked, "Is this part of my punishment?"

"It might be." Sadayo walked over to the bed and slid carefully on top of the covers. The faintest hint of her thigh peeked out from the robe and she could see Akira's eyes brighten. Lifting the robe, she allowed the slightest bit of skin to appear and rolled her foot, "My feet hurt."

Without hesitation, Akira crawled forward and took the offered right foot. His hands were rough but Sadayo didn't mind. She enjoyed the sensation the calluses on his fingers gave her skin. For some reason, the roughness sent tingles up her leg and helped to spread a familiar warmth throughout her body. His fingers danced softly across her skin, starting first with her ankle and rubbing the knots out that had formed while she was out.

"How is it?" Akira's eyes were focused on her face as his hand moved to the bottom of her foot.

"Fantastic," she whispered as she felt a small jolt of electricity shoot up her spine, making her squirm. She felt a small amount of dampness form between her legs but remained composed as he moved along the arch of her foot. Sadayo let out a small moan and chewed on her lower lip as she saw a familiar look appear in Akira's eyes.

"Don't even think about it." Sadayo pulled her foot away and gave him a gentle poke in the chest with her big toe.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Akira gave her a wink and pulled her left foot toward him and began the same procedure, this time starting on her the bottom of her foot and working his way up.

"Sure you don't," growled Sadayo as she squirmed again as his fingers massaged her thigh. "You're supposed to focus on me tonight."

"I am." Akira gave her heel a kiss which caused the robe to slide up her leg a bit more to reveal a milky white thigh. "You've just got this talent of distracting me."

"Then maybe we should get you back on track." Sadayo's free foot inched forward and began rubbing against the bulge that had begun to form beneath his boxers. She could feel a small amount of dampness where his tip was located and gave him a pitying look. "You haven't been taking care of yourself." She pressed a bit harder and began massaging the growing erection.

"No, ma'am." His voice was more of a gasp than anything and his eyes closed slightly.

"When was the last time?" Sadayo used a practiced foot to pull at the waist band of his boxers and revealed the shining head of his erection. Taking the head between her big and second toe, she gently massaged the head, lowering the foreskin a bit. She watched his eyes tighten a bit as the sensitive skin rubbed against her toe.

"The…," Akira's hips rose and fell with Sadayo's hips as she massaged his cock. He'd prefer her hand or mouth, but Akira was so pent up that he didn't care. Just the touch of her was making his cock throb and Akira could already feel his cum begin to dribble down his cock and onto her foot, making her massage that much more effective.

"I asked you a question, Akira." Sadayo pressed gently against his cock and squeezed what she could between her toes.

"The last time we had sex." The words spilled from his mouth at the increase in pressure and felt his face grow red at admitting the last time he'd had an orgasm. When the pressure lessened, Akira opened his eyes to see Sadayo smiling at him and felt his ears grow hot. Her foot left his cock and soon she was on all fours and was crawling toward him. She had a predatory look in her eyes and he felt his cock press tightly against his boxers.

If him being the dominant partner was rare, Sadayo taking control was almost unheard of but Akira always found himself excited at the prospect. Where Akira was quiet and used his presence, Sadayo was a teaser. She enjoyed making him beg for any sort of release and when he saw her bare breasts swinging inside the robe, he gulped in excitement.

"I see you found my surprise," Sadayo said as she approached, her hand trailing up his thigh toward his testicles. Her hand rested on his crotch and began to massage the swollen orbs between her fingers. "My poor, Aki-kun." Sadayo's mouth was so close to his ear that he shivered when she spoke. "You're so repressed."

Akira winced as he ran a nail along the head of his cock before moving down his shaft. He cautiously lifted a hand and brought it to the robe and began to loosen the belt, only to have it swatted away.

"Did you ask permission to look at me?" Sadayo's glare held a hint of playfulness that Akira laughed inwardly only to have it pushed from his mind as she squeezed his cock.

"No, ma'am." He gasped as she flicked the head of his cock with her thumb.

"No, you didn't." Sadayo's face lowered to Akira's eye level, her hand slowly stroking his cock as she glowered at him. "You're an impatient man, Aki-kun."

"I'm sorry," Akira whimpered as he felt another bit of pre-cum slide down his cock only to have his hips jerk upwards of their own accord as Sadayo licked the small glob from the rim of her hand and his shaft.

"I think someone needs to be reminded of their place."

When he opened his eyes, Akira saw Sadayo's staring into his. He groaned when her hand removed itself from his cock but he didn't dare make any movement. A smile grew on her lips and she leaned in, her lips soft against his and he felt his eyes close once more; his breath leaving him as he felt her body grow closer to his. He could taste the faintest hint of himself on her lips and felt himself grow harder. His tongue snuck into her mouth and was met with hers. The muscles caressing one another as he felt her weight shift into his lap.

A cold gust of air hit the wet tip of his cock as she lifted the bottom of the robe only to be replaced by the moist warmth of her lower lips.

"Sadayo," he gasped, breaking the kiss.

"Not yet," she whispered as her hands pressed her hands against his chest.

Akira's arms collapsed willingly and he watched as Sadayo's cheeks burned bright red as she began undoing the knot of the robe's belt. As she did, Sadayo's hands faltered just as the robe opened revealing a bit of her stomach and breasts. Knowing what she needed, Akira reached a hand up and slowly began massaging her breast. He felt a small bit of liquid on his hand but didn't mind it.

"Akira." Sadayo's eyes closed, lips parted in excitement, but she still turned her head in embarrassment.

"Sadayo." Akira used his spare hand to stroke her cheek, making her eyes open and give him a sideways glance. "You're beautiful." His hands moved to the robes and rested on the hem and waited for her to move.

She gave him an appreciative smile and took a deep breath before guiding his hands in taking off the robe, revealing her naked form to him for the first time in weeks. Her body had changed quite a bit since the last time they'd made love. Her breasts had grown, but so had her stomach and small marks had begun to form on her stomach. As she waited, she felt her confidence begin to waver.

"What do you think?" She tried to cover her body, but Akira's hands stopped her.

"I like what I see." Akira pulled her hands toward his mouth and he kissed them.

"Sweet talker." She laughed when he shrugged and let her pull his glasses off and set them on the bedside table. Akira made no movement, save to caress her thighs and gently massage her engorged lips.

"Watch it, mister," Sadayo threatened as she used her now free hand stroke his shaft. "You may have earned some brownie points but that doesn't let you off the hook."

Tossing the robe away, Sadayo got on all fours and crawled up his body until finally her crotch was hovering inches above Akira's face and said, "You know what to do."

Akira wasted no time in lifting his head and begin to gently lap at the liquids that had formed around her puffy lips. Her pubic hair tickled his nose, but he didn't mind it. He was too focused on what waited beneath the engorged lips. Akira felt his cock twitch inside his boxers as a moan left Sadayo's lips. Her hips began rocking against his tongue, her juices spreading while he massaged her thighs.

Her scent filled his nostrils and Akira felt his erection slowly make its way out of his boxers. The cold air on his the head of his cock drew a deep growl from his throat, spurring him to gently suck on her newly exposed clit.

"Akira," she panted she felt her arms grow weak. "Be careful. I'm really sensitive."

"Good to know," he whispered as he began probing his tongue deeper into her. He felt her walls twitch as she grew wetter and he licked hungrily as his fingers danced along clit. Her hips slowly began to pick up the pace, low pants and moans signifying her desire for release. Taking a moment, Akira pulled his tongue from her hole and kissed her engorged lips and blew softly on her clit. He watched her body shake and smiled to himself as she let out a low moan and Akira gave into temptation.

Giving her pussy one more kiss, he carefully pressed a finger inside her hole and felt her clench slightly at the penetration.

"Oh god," she whispered as she felt the finger slide inside of her. Sadayo bit down on her lower lip and whimpered loudly as he began to slowly slide his finger in and out. "Akira, that feels incredible."

"I'm here to serve you," he said between kisses and suckles at her juices. As she rocked her hips, Akira licked along the crevice as his finger curled inside her. She spasmed slightly at the sensation, his finger finding a small nub deep inside her.

Her hips moved of their own accord, following his tongue as it moved upward along her slit taking a moment to suck on her clit before allowing her to slide back down along his finger. Sadayo felt her cheeks flush, sweat trickling down her back and thighs as she lost herself in the moment. Pleasure flooding her body with each caress of his tongue and finger. Her arms shook as she tried to hold back her pleasure, tears forming in the corner of her eyes as her release built.

"Akira." His name was little more than a pant as she felt her walls begin to contract.

He said nothing, instead, he lifted his head and began sucking on her clit while he slipped another finger inside of her, thrusting harder as he felt her contract until finally, he felt her taste in his mouth. Her hips rocked against his face as she came, his name leaving her lips in ever increasing moans. Her thighs twitched, clenching down on his face as she panted and groaned until finally she relaxed and he could feel his jaw hurting a bit, but he persisted, kissing her drenched inner thigh while he removed his fingers.

She whimpered loudly at the loss of his fingers, but he could hear a happiness in her sigh as he kissed her. Slowly she rolled over to relax, and he followed, his kisses moving up her body until finally, he reached her lips. She welcomed his kiss and stroked his hair as they kissed, lost in their touches. Akira didn't realize it, but as they kissed, Sadayo was slowly leading him toward the edge of the bed. It wasn't until he felt his legs fall off the side of the bed that he realized what was happening.

Sitting up, he found Sadayo on the floor, her face between his legs as her hands pulled at his boxers. He lifted his hips, allowing her to finish undressing him. He let out a low growl at the cool air on his erection.

"Feel better," she asked as she moved up, her lips kissing his shaft while her hands fondled his scrotum.

"Yes, ma'am," he groaned as her tongue began to lick his length. He could feel the familiar reflex kick in, the urge to move with her tongue, but he resisted, wanting to savor the feeling of her tongue.

Sadayo chuckled and enveloped the head of his cock with her mouth, sucking gently while her hand stroked his length. She looked up, finding his eyes shut and his jaw slacked. With a slight pop, she took her mouth from his head and began using her tongue, swirling around the head before taking his length in her mouth. Slowly lowering and lifting her head, sucking as she went up, her tongue trailing along the veins of his cock.

"Sadayo." Akira's hand found her head and ran through her hair, his hips raising slightly she lowered her head. She didn't protest but he felt her hand gently squeeze his scrotum and he eased up on his thrusts. As she squeezed, Akira felt a bit more cum leak from his tip and heard a loud moan emanate from her throat.

She smiled up at him, her mouth leaving his cock as she licked at the drops of pre-cum that were slowly pouring from his tip. She loved how he tasted, the slight saltiness of his flesh and cum had an odd effect on her and she couldn't help but tease him.

"You really are pent up, Aki-kun." Sadayo kissed his tip and ran her tongue along the slit in his head, tasting a small bit of the remaining fluids. "You've been dripping so much and you still haven't cum." She stroked his length, kissing and nibbling on it as he panted loudly. "Do you not like me anymore?"

Akira shook his head as small jolts of excitement shot up his spine as she nipped his flesh. "That's not it." His free hand continued to stroke her hair while his other one clenched the sheets.

"What is it then?" She kissed his tip again before leaning down and taking one of his testicles into her mouth.

"I….," Akira let out a deep moan ass sucked one of his testicles.

"What would you like, Aki-kun?" She released him and kissed her way up his chest, taking a moment to suck on each of his nipples. She smiled as he whined at the sensation and silenced him with a kiss before asking, "Do you want inside me?"

Akira felt her hand begin rubbing his cock again, her thumb pressing against his head, pushing it back slightly and he nodded in defeat. "I want inside you," he panted as she squeezed him.

He heard her laugh before kissing him, he felt the familiar pressure and began moving back onto the bed. He felt her breasts against his brush against his chest as she followed, he could still taste himself on her tongue and sucked hungrily at it as she pushed him down into the mattress again. When she broke the kiss he looked up and saw her staring down at him, her eyes filled with the same adoration and love he felt for her. Slowly she lifted her hips, and he looked down to see his cock just beneath the curve of her belly. He could feel her heat on his tip and hissed as he felt the warmth of her lips rub against his cock.

Slowly she lowered herself, her eyes shut in pleasure as he began to enter her, his cock splitting her, filling her with something she'd been missing for weeks. She could feel another rush of pleasure and when he was completely inside, she let out a loud moan as another orgasm coursed through her. A small laugh echoed in her ears and she could feel the familiar sensation of rough hands gently massaging her breasts. A cold sensation rolled across her right nipple and she bit down on her lip as she began to raise her hips, panting as she felt her walls receded only to open again as he thrust into her on her return.

A slow rhythm began, her breasts bouncing gently as she rose along his cock. Pleasure filling her body as he said her name. His cock a gentle chisel penetrating her as she kissed his hands, loud moans leaving her lips as she hips rocked against him. She could barely keep her eyes open as she felt him thrust inside her. Each movement in sync with hers, his hands massaging her breasts so much that she could feel herself more than sweat begin to roll down her breasts. Taking his hands she put one hand on her hip and the other on the small patch of pubic hair.

"I want you to touch me," she whispered as she began grinding against him. Her hips moving a bit faster as she tightened her walls around him.

Akira nodded, his hand massaging the small patch of flesh as he thrust into her. He'd nearly forgotten how she felt, how hot she got when she was worked up. The sounds of their union were in his ears and her moans didn't help his frustration. Their conversation earlier hadn't helped his desires and he wasn't lying when he said he hadn't touched himself since the last time they'd had sex. He'd had so little privacy when he was at work that he didn't risk it, but thoughts of her never left his mind.

Every day he thought about her. How she tasted, how she smelled, and how she felt. He ached for her and knew she craved him as well. They'd sent messages about how much they missed the feel of one another, but she was the only one who'd had the time alone to please herself while he was forced to compose himself to wait for the right opportunity.

As his frustration built, Akira began to slowly pick up his pace, his fingers moved lower and pulled back the small hood that covered her clit and slowly began to stroke it. He chuckled when she gasped, her hips stopping as he pushed inside of her. Her eyes shut and her body twitched, small moans leaving her throat as she clenched and relaxed around him. His fingers stroking her lips as he felt fluids drip from inside her again.

"That was dirty," she whispered and gave him a playful smirk. When she recovered enough she squeezed herself around him again, though she barely relaxed as she lowered herself, her walls milking him with each stroke. She could feel his strokes grow shallower, the tip of his cock pressing against the roof of her entrance as he thrust. Sadayo could feel another orgasm approaching and began tightening her thighs around him.

"Sadayo," Akira's hands gripped her thighs, pulling her closer to him as his hips thrust into her. She was so slick that he could move easily inside of her despite her gripping him. He felt the familiar pressure in the tip of his cock build and his cock begin to twitch. Wanting to be close he sat up and pulled her tight, his lips finding hers as his thrusts grew more rampant. She didn't complain, she returned his advances, kissing him deeply as she moaned loudly.

"That's it, Akira." She panted as she ground down on his cock, her hips rocking as he thrust into her. Her head grew heavy and she let it rest against his shoulder, moaning in his ear as she felt her muscles relax. The sensation in her nipples as his chest brushed against hers had her thighs spasming as another orgasm hit her. A deep growl exited his throat and she smiled.

"Do you want to cum," she whispered in his ear as she felt him twitch inside her. Her lips kissed along his jaw and neck, her teeth chewing on the soft skin.

"Yes ma'am," he growled as his nails dug into her ass, his hips thrusting deeper into her. "Please, Sadayo?"

Sadayo nodded and panted loudly in his ear before kissing him and whispering, "You can."

He kissed her back; his damp hair pressing against her forehead as he gave one final thrust into her and growled loudly as he spasmed inside of her. Against his chest, he could feel a passionate moan escape her chest before breaking the kiss and panting loudly. As his cock twitched inside her, he could feel his release and hers slowly drip down her thigh as he watched her body jerk gently from her latest orgasm. She chewed on her lip, moaning loudly as her legs clenched his thighs tightly and her nails dug into his shoulders. Sweat poured down her head and breasts; her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

"Shit," she managed to gasp after a moment. Her chest had stopped heaving, but her legs were still spasming. Her hands moved to his hair and she gave him a cautious smile and whimpered when he adjusted himself. "Don't move," she begged, her eyes closing tight.

"Are you okay?" His fingers brushed her cheek and he kissed her softly.

"Yes," she managed to squeak as she regained some composure. "I told you I'm very sensitive right now."

"Oh." Akira gave one teasing thrust which earned him a gentle slap on the chest as Sadayo gasped again.

"That's not funny." Sadayo managed to squeeze what remained of his erection which made him groan in discomfort.

"Point made," he grunted as she released him. He looked up at her and wiped some sweat from her face and kissed her again. She accepted him without hesitation and relaxed as they embraced.

As they kissed, Akira could feel himself slip from her and she let out a soft moan and smiled when he moaned in disappointment.

"Did that help?" She nuzzled his neck and stroked his hair as he cradled her in his arms.

"You have no idea," he laughed as he kissed her shoulder.

"Were you serious when you said you haven't….you know?"

"I was." He kissed her shoulder again and ran a hand through her damp hair. "I think about you a lot but my office isn't exactly the most private place."

"My poor Aki-kun." She kissed him again and massaged his neck. "We need to remedy that, my love."

"I have the time," he chuckled as she slid off of him and went to the bathroom. He heard the sink turn on and off and soon she appeared with a couple of damp wash rags and a slight stagger to her step. "Feeling good?"

"Shut up," she laughed as she climbed back onto the bed and began cleaning him. "But, yes I feel very good." She handed him the other rag and whimpered when she felt the washcloth begin cleaning her.

"Sorry." Akira adjusted his cleaning and made sure to be as gentle as possible. "That better?"

"Yeah." Sadayo took several deep breaths to keep herself calm as he finished cleaning her.

"There," Akira took the rags and set them on the robe and gave her a kiss before picking up the robe and depositing it in the hamper. When he returned to the bed, Sadayo had already curled up under the covers and was watching him hungrily. "Like what you see?"

"Very much," Sadayo nodded with a predatory smile. "I always enjoy watching you."

"Well if you want we can go for round two?" Akira slipped under the covers and joined her in the warmth.

"My legs hurt too much," Sadayo gave him an apologetic smile and she moved a bit closer to him. "How about a rain check?"

"Sounds good." Akira moved closer and threw over her and she rolled onto her left side pressed her body against his. "You know this isn't helping."

"I know it isn't." She ground against him and giggled as he growled. "But you have to wait tomorrow night."

"Tease." Akira kissed the back of her neck and slowly slipped into gentle sleep.

When he woke up, Sadayo was curled up next to him watching a movie on the television.

"Morning, sleepy." She rolled over and gave him a soft kiss and stroked his hair.

"What time is it?" He wiped some sleep out of his eyes and yawned.

"About nine-thirty." Sadayo gave him a gentle tap on the nose and scratched his beard. "I think your mom is making breakfast."

"Want me to go and check?"

Sadayo's stomach growled before she could say anything and chuckled, "There's your answer."

"I'll be right back." He climbed out of bed and dressed in some ratty pajamas and slippers. As he opened the door he turned around and asked, "Tea, fruit, and toast?"

"Bagel," she shouted as she turned back to her movie.

He blew her a kiss, which she caught with her hand and then headed downstairs to find Makoto resting an ice pack on her forehead, nursing a bottle of water, and downing some aspirin.

"How was your visit to Sleepy Time Castle," joked Akira as he walked by her.

"Screw you," she groaned as a plate of toast appeared in front of her. "Thanks, Sachiko-san."

"Eat this and then head back upstairs for sleep." Sachiko gave Makoto a gentle pat on the back. "Akira I don't wish to assume but is that okay?"

"Fine by me." Akira was feeling too good to have his spirits dampened. "I told Sae-san what happened and she said to call her when you can."

"Thanks." Makoto took a small bite of toast and looked like she was about to throw up. "Why does my mouth taste like regurgitated Big Bang Burger?"

"Small bites, dear." Sachiko left the girl to eat and approached her son. "You look much better."

"I'm feeling better." Akira gave his mom a kiss on the cheek as he gathered Sadayo's food.

"Do you want me to make you something?" Sachiko asked after taking notice of the small amount of food he had.

"I'll be down in a bit." He began buttering the bagel and prepping the tea. "I'm taking this to Sadayo."

"Ah." Sachiko gave him a smile and asked, "Your dad and I are grateful that you two were so open with us and thank you for accepting our help."

"Well, Sadayo was right." He gave Makoto a quick look and saw that she still looked like she was going to be ill. "We're going to be needing help soon and they're all busy."

"She's a smart girl." Sachiko gave her son a wink. "I just hope she can figure out what's going on with her mother soon. I'd really like to meet her parents."

"We'll figure it out, Mom." Akira grabbed some fruit from the fridge and rinsed it when he finally noticed a few people were missing. "Where's Dad and Eiko?"

"Oh!" Sachiko's face flushed as she began whisking her eggs. "They decided to head out for a bit to do a little bit of shopping."

"Okay." Akira tried to think of what they needed in the house but nothing came to mind. "Are they planning a special dinner or something?"

"Uh...no….nothing like that." Sachiko pulled out a pan and began heating it.

"Then what is it that they went shopping for?" Akira checked to make sure he had everything before turning to his mother.

"Well…." Sachiko poured the eggs into the pan and watched as the edges began to bubble slightly. "You know we love you and Sadayo and we are happy that you two have gotten this far, but there are times you two need to tone it down a bit."

"Ummmm...what are you getting at, Mom?" Akira had a sneaking suspicion as to what she was hinting, but he wanted to make sure he didn't misinterpret her meaning.

"Let's just say," Sachiko's face was as red as her son's as she said, "your father and I think it's a good idea we have some noise-canceling headphones for the remainder of our visit."


End file.
